Effects of low doses of bisphenol a on primordial germ cells in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and larvae [Düşük dozlardaki bisfenol a'ni{dotless}n zebra bali{dotless}ǧi{dotless} (Danio rerio) embriyo ve larvalari{dotless}nda primordiyal germ hücreleri üzerine etkisi]

Primordial germ cells are the precursors of gametes in sexually reproducing organisms. the migration and homing process of primordial germ cells are prone to environmental effects and the endocrine system hormones. one of the environmental pollutants which humans are exposed to is bisfenol a (bpa). bpa which is an endocrine disrupter generally used for making plastics harder. in this study we investigated the effects of low doses of bpa (4 mg/l and 8 mg/l) on primordial germ cells at the zebrafish embryos and larvae. whole mount in situ hybridization for germ cell marker gene vasa showed that upon exposure to bpa,the primordial germ cell number increased and these cells ectopically localized outside the normal germ cell niche in zebrafish. migration of primordial germ cells into ectopic locations and morphological changes in these cells were also proved by histological studies. additionally,results of acridine orange staining to detect apoptotic cells showed that low doses of bpa did not increase apoptosis. results of the present study showed that low doses of bpa exposure increased the number of primordial germ cells and induced ectopic primordial germ cell localization in the zebrafish embryos.