Propiconazole is a fungicide used in a variety of agricultural applications. Preliminary studies had suggested that embryos of the crustacean Daphnia magna are particularly susceptible to the toxicity of this chemical. The goals of the present study were to define endpoints of daphnid embryonic development that could be routinely used to assess the embryo toxicity of chemicals and to characterize definitively the embryo toxicity of propiconazole to daphnids. Daphnid embryonic development was characterized into six readily distinguishable stages based on the degree of tissue differentiation. Embryonic development could be monitored either in the brood chamber of the maternal organism or using embryos removed from the brood chamber and incubated ex vivo. Standard toxicity assessment revealed that propiconazole elicited no significant adverse effects on daphnid survival or fecundity during a 21-d exposure to concentrations as high as 0.25 mg/L. Exposure to 0.25 mg/L propiconazole, however, caused a significant incidence of developmental abnormalities and embryonic death. Abnormalities were consistent with developmental arrest at later stages of embryonic maturation. Propiconazole elicited a steep concentration-response curve with respect to embryo toxicity, with a 10% and a 90% incidence of embryo toxicity measured at 0.50 and 0.82 mg/L, respectively. Direct exposure of embryos to propiconazole resulted in toxicity, though the incidence and characteristics of developmental abnormalities were not consistent with that observed during chronic exposures. However, maternal exposure to propiconazole followed by transfer of early embryos to prop icon azole-free media resulted in embryo toxicity consistent with that observed during chronic exposure. These results indicate that propiconazole interferes with the later stages of daphnid embryonic development, and that this toxicity is manifested largely via maternal exposure to the fungicide.
