Meeting Abstract

P2-53   -   Retention of Deuterated BPA in Regenerating Planaria Flood, B M*; Kurek, N; Maurer, J; St. John, P; Mass, S; SUNY New Paltz floodb1@hawkmail.newpaltz.edu

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a xenoestrogenic environmental pollutant commonly used in the production of plastics, health and beauty products, and pharmaceuticals. Due to its prevalence in industrial processes, environmental exposure to BPA is virtually unavoidable. Previous experiments have indicated that freshwater planaria (G. tigrina) are unable to regenerate effectively following exposure to micromolar concentrations of deuterated BPA (D8-BPA), and they exhibit deleterious phenotypic effects such as reduced response to stimuli. The goal of this project is to correlate the amount of D8-BPA retained with the phenotypic effects observed in regenerating planaria. D8-BPA was used in place of BPA to differentiate experimentally absorbed BPA, and BPA present due to supply-chain contamination. This project involved exposing surgically transected planaria to micromolar concentrations of D8-BPA over a set experimental period to observe changes in both regeneration capabilities, as well as quantify the retention of D8-BPA by the worms. Images of regenerating worms were taken throughout the experiment and digitally analyzed to obtain growth rates. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify the amount of D8-BPA absorbed by the worms at various points throughout the experiment. Over the course of several 14-day experiments, the amount of D8-BPA retained by the planaria was not constant, however there was a consistent decline in retention later in the experiment. This is consistent with the phenotypic changes observed, as the growth rates between the control worms and the worms in D8-BPA deviate the most within the last few days of the experiment.