Studies on the effects of Flucloxacillin (antibiotic) on fertilization and early development of a sedentary polychaete Hydroides elegans

Antibiotic is a chemical substance produced by a micro organisms that suppresses the growth or directly kills another micro organisms. The biological activities are complex process of differentiation is very quick the effect of antibiotics are expressed quickly during the process of cleavage. Concentrations of the antibiotic not necessarily pure are then examined for toxicity of flucloxacillin. Flucloxacillin is an antibiotic used for the treatment of infectious caused by susceptible bacteria. The toxic effect of fluxloxacillin on fertilization and embryogenesis of Hydroides elegans was examined in laboratory acute – toxicity tests. Exposure of drugs during fertilization or early developmental stages leads to fertilization block and arrested development which resulted in morphologic abnormalities in embryo and larvae. The rate of activity of various embryonic stages studied in the present work clearly suggest that flucloxacillin affect the biological activities of various embryonic stages even at 10ppm concentration. At higher concentration of flucloxacillin many of the embryos showed deformities and stopped further development. The study on the effect of flucloxacillin on fertilization and early embryonic stages of H. elegans are assessed in four different parameters such as cumulative time, individual state time, percentage of successful development and EC₅₀ values. The toxic effects of drugs were assessed various embryonic stages for FM-stage, 2-Cell Stage, 3-Cell Stage, 4-Cell Stage, 8-Cell Stage, 16-Cell Stage, 32-Cell Stage, 64-Cell Stage, Blastula stage, Blastula start rotation stage, Blastula stop rotation stage and Release stage for various concentrations (10ppm, 50ppm, 100ppm, 200ppm, 400ppm and 800ppm) of flucloxacillin in sea water. At increased concentrations flucloxacillin may cause damage to fertilization in human beings and other animals. The present work confirms that the bioassay using the gametes and embryos of H. elegans can ideally be used to assess the relative toxicity of various drugs.