Biochemical and Genotoxic Effects of Maneb on <scp> <i>Eisenia fetida</i> </scp>

Maneb is a dithiocarbamate pesticide that is widely used to control many fungal diseases affecting vegetables, fruits, and field crops because of its low acute toxicity and short environmental persistence and is classified as carcinogenic to humans. Eisenia fetida is the preferred model organism for investigating the toxic effects of pesticides and other environmental pollutants. The toxic effects of a maneb fungicide on E. fetida were examined at physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular levels. As a result of probit analysis, the lethal concentration (LC50) of maneb on E. fetida was 798.4 mg/kg (dry soil). At sublethal concentrations (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg (dry soil)), decreases were detected in the weight of worms exposed to maneb as the concentration increased. In the analyses performed to detect lipid peroxidation, the amount of MDA increased in parallel with the increase in the maneb concentration and exposure time. CAT and GST enzyme activities were increased at all concentrations compared with the control group during the four sampling days. In the data obtained as a result of comet assay, cell damage increased depending on the changes in the maneb concentration and exposure time. As a result of real-time PCR analysis, increases in the expression of antioxidant enzymes were detected in worms exposed to maneb to clear reactive oxygen species (ROS). This study investigated the effects of maneb on E. fetida for the first time at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels and contributed to the elucidation of changes in maneb in worms.