Ecotoxicity of 5-Fluorouracil Towards Diatoms from Brackish Coastal Shallows

Autor segons l'article: Pniewski; FF; E; Tylkowski; B

Departament: Enginyeria Química

Autor/s de la URV: Tylkowski, Bartosz

Paraules clau: 5-fluorouracil; Aquatic environment; Aquatic environments; Artificial seawater; Atlantic ocean; Baltic sea; Contaminants of emerging concerns; Cytostatic; Diatom; Diatoms; Dna; Ecotoxicity; Environmental risk; Industrial poisons; Inhibition; Microphytobenthos; Mixed cultures; Phytoplankton; Salinity; Seawater; Species diversity; Strain; Surface waters; Toxicity

Resum: Cytostatics are contaminants of emerging concern. Their increasing presence in waste- and surface water is becoming a risk to aquatic life. Among them, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most frequently prescribed cytostatic drugs. 5-FU inhibits the thymidylate synthase activity, causing the depletion of thymidine nucleotides and misincorporation of uracil, and thus blocks DNA synthesis and replication. This study focuses on the influence of 5-FU on brackish and marine diatoms from the Baltic Sea, including Bacillaria cf. paxillifera, Gedaniella sp., Navicula perminuta, Nitzschia cf. aurariae, Skeletonema marinoi and Stephanocyclus meneghinianus, as well as natural microphytobenthos assemblages. The toxic effects of 5-FU were investigated in acute growth inhibition tests, which were performed using four types of media, i.e., artificial seawater with a salinity of 6.7, natural Baltic water, artificial seawater with a salinity of 22, and artificial seawater with the addition of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. The toxicity of 5-FU was checked for (1) each strain grown individually in all media, (2) six-strain mixed cultures grown in artificial seawater, and (3) natural microphytobenthic communities maintained in natural Baltic water. The diatom responses to 5-FU were species-specific. Growth conditions significantly modified the toxicity of 5-FU; tested strains were the most resistant to 5-FU when grown under optimal conditions, i.e., in natural Baltic water and/or at the optimal salinity. In the six-strain mixed cultures, higher 5-FU concentrations (>0.1 mg L−1) shifted the dominance of diatom strains; the most resilient diatom S. meneghinianus replaced two other fast-growing strains, i.e., B. cf. paxillifera and Gedaniella sp. In the tested microphytobenthos assemblages, the highest biomass and species diversity were observed under the highest 5-FU concentrations (>5 mg L−1). This indicated that the responses of complex species mixtures were governed by the ecophysiological features of their members and interactions among them, shaping the adaptive capacity of the entire assemblage. The introduction of the ecophysiological approach to toxicity testing seems to be crucial, and it would enable more realistic environmental risk assessment. © 2025 by the authors.

Accès a la llicència d'ús: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

Adreça de correu electrònic de l'autor: bartosz.tylkowski@urv.cat

Data d'alta del registre: 2026-01-10

Versió de l'article dipositat: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Enllaç font original: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17/24/3506

Referència a l'article segons font original: Water (Switzerland). 17 (24):

Referència de l'ítem segons les normes APA: Pniewski; FF; E; Tylkowski; B (2025). Ecotoxicity of 5-Fluorouracil Towards Diatoms from Brackish Coastal Shallows. Water (Switzerland), 17(24), -. DOI: 10.3390/w17243506

URL Document de llicència: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

DOI de l'article: 10.3390/w17243506

Entitat: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Any de publicació de la revista: 2025-01-01

Tipus de publicació: Journal Publications