Bisphenol A acts as developmental agonist in Culex quinquefasciatus Say

Plastic wastes deposited in canals running through Thiruvananthapuram city have created stagnant waters providing breeding sites for mosquitoes. In the present study, plastic waste-derived bisphenol A (BPA) was quantified from four mosquito breeding sites. During summer rain, the concentration of BPA in the stagnant water samples was found to be between 0.86 and 1.14 mg/L, and hence 1 mg/L BPA was considered as the environmentally relevant concentration. In the present study, the effect of BPA on the life cycle and metamorphosis of filarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus Say was elucidated by rearing larvae in water added with BPA at and above the environmentally relevant concentration viz., 1, 2, and 4 mg/L. The duration required for adult emergence was reduced from 10 to 8.5 days, when the concentration of BPA was increased from 1 to 4 mg/L respectively. Our study revealed that embryonic and larval developments were shortened by BPA treatment. BPA also caused a dose-dependent advancement of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E) peaks; phospholipase A₂ induction; and upregulation of ecdysone receptor gene, EcRA, and ecdysone inducible gene E75A, which culminated in early pupation. No significant difference in sanguivory and fecundity was observed in adult mosquitoes treated with 1 mg/L of BPA. Our study reveals that BPA is a developmental agonist of C. quinquefasciatus.