DOI: 10.5061/dryad.t4b8gtj87
title: PFOS negatively impacts prey capture in larval zebrafish

description: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used in many
 industrial and domestic applications. The wide range use of PFAS has
 resulted in unintentional human exposures and bioaccumulation in blood and
 other organs. Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) is among the most prevalent
 PFAS in the environment and has been postulated to affect brain functions
 in exposed organisms. However, the impacts of PFOS on early neural
 development have not been well-described. Here, we used zebrafish larvae
 to assess the effects of PFOS on two fundamental complex behaviors, prey
 capture and learning. Zebrafish exposed to PFOS concentrations ranging
 from 2 – 20 µM for differing 48-hour periods were viable through early
 larval stages. In addition, PFOS uptake was unaffected by the presence of
 a chorion. We employed two different experimental paradigms; we first
 assessed the impacts of increasing organismal PFOS bioaccumulation on prey
 capture and learning, and second, we probed stage-specific sensitivity to
 PFOS by exposing zebrafish at different developmental stages (0-2 vs 3-5
 days post fertilization). Following both assays we measured the amount of
 PFOS present in each larva. PFOS levels varied in larvae from different
 groups within each experimental paradigm. Significant negative
 correlations were observed between larval PFOS accumulation and the
 percentage of captured prey, while non-significant negative correlations
 were observed between PFOS accumulation and experienced-induced prey
 capture learning. These findings suggest that PFOS accumulation negatively
 affects larval zebrafish's ability to perform complicated
 multisensory behaviors and highlight potential risks of PFOS exposure to
 animals in the wild, with implications for human health.
description: Zebrafish embryos and larvae were exposed to PFOS in multiple
 different treatment and feeding groups. Subsequent behavior testing was
 done blinded to both the treatment and feeding group. Following behavior
 testing, samples were collected for LC-MS/MS analysis, which was also done
 blind to treatment and feeding group. After the collection of the LC-MS/MS
 data, the PFOS measurements and behavior analysis were linked to their
 respective feeding and treatment groups (By the combination of their Group
 # and Sample #). Analysis of the aggregate data (Tukey HSD and multiple
 linear regressions) were then performed on each dataset.
description: # PFOS negatively impacts prey capture in larval zebrafish
 Included in uploaded files
 are the LC-MS PFOS measurements and all collected paramecia prey capture
 data for all experiments. ## Description of the data and file structure
 This paper combines two main experimental paradigms: one tested the
 developmental time-period of PFOS exposure and the other tested the
 concentration of PFOS exposure. Our data is uploaded as two separate Excel
 files for each experiment. Each excel file contains 3 tabs: 1. Behavior
 Key - This is the Key that we used to unblind our results after analysis.
 It identifies which groups were linked to which treatment groups. 2. PFOS
 Measurements - This is the PFOS measurement values from the LC-MS/MS
 measurements of the zebrafish larvae following behavior. 3. Behavior
 Measurements - This includes the feeding group for each sampled fish, the
 number of starting paramecia in their experiment dish, the number of
 ending paramecia after feeding, as well as a calculated change in
 paramecia and percentage of paramecia eaten for each larvae. ##
 Sharing/Access information None. ## Code/Software None.