Response of the amphibian tadpole Xenopus laevis to atrazine during sexual differentiation of the ovary.

Xenopus laevis tadpoles (stage 56) were exposed to 21 microg/L atrazine under laboratory-controlled conditions in a static system. Following a 48-h exposure period at 21+/-0.5 degrees C during sexual differentiation, tadpoles were fixed, and the kidney-gonad complex was microdissected. Quantitative histological analysis revealed in atrazine-exposed ovaries a significant (p < 0.05) increase in frequency of secondary oogonia. Atresia, or oogonial resorption of both primary and secondary oogonia, also increased significantly (p < 0.05). The results suggest that these primary germ cells, which constitute the total number of germ cells in the ovary for the reproductive life of the organism, were reduced by 20% following a 48-h exposure period compared to 2% in controls.