Effects of sodium selenite, yeast selenium, and nano-selenium on toxicity, growth, and selenium bioaccumulation in Lucilia sericata maggots

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 Mar;31(13):20510-20520. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-32505-9. Epub 2024 Feb 20.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effects of different types of selenium (Se) (sodium selenite [SS], yeast selenium [YS], and nano-selenium [NS]) on the toxicity, growth, Se accumulation, and transformation of Lucilia sericata maggots (LSMs). We found that the 50% lethal concentration of LSMs exposed to SS was 2.18 and 1.96 times that of YS and NS, respectively. LSM growth was significantly promoted at exposure concentrations of 10-50 mg kg-1 in group SS and 10-30 mg kg-1 in group YS, whereas NS inhibited LSMs growth at all concentrations (p < 0.05). Total Se content in LSMs, conversion efficiency to organic and other forms of Se, and bioaccumulation factor of Se were the highest in the SS group when exposed to 50 mg kg-1 (81.6 mg kg-1, 94.6%, and 1.63, respectively). Transcriptomic results revealed that LSMs significantly upregulated the amino acid (alanine, aspartate, glutamic, and tyrosine) and tricarboxylic acid cycle signaling pathways (p < 0.05) on exposure to Se, resulting in a significant increase in LSMs biomass and quality. In conclusion, our study indicates that LSMs exhibit good tolerance to SS and can convert it into bioorganic or other forms of Se.

Keywords: Acute toxicity; Amino acid metabolism; Biotransformation; Se; Transcriptome.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bioaccumulation
  • Larva / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism
  • Selenium* / metabolism
  • Sodium Selenite* / metabolism
  • Sodium Selenite* / pharmacology

Substances

  • Sodium Selenite
  • Selenium