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2728765 
Technical Report 
The FETAX (Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus) test: Evaluation of teratogenic effects induced by xenobiotics on the embryogenesis of Xenopus laevis: Modification and new applications 
Leone, VG; Bordone, L; Cristiani, S; Sporchia, L; Vismara, C 
1994 
BIOSIS/97/11721 
128 
1 
3-12 
Italian 
BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. The Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus (FETAX) has been applied mainly in pharmacology to examine the toxicity of drugs on embryos (mortality, malformation and growth inhibition). The original FETAX methodology has been modified by us using the in vitro fertilization (ivf) and has been applied to ecotoxicological studies. One of the advantages of the modFETAX using ivf is to make the early phase of development available to the assay. In this preliminary study, we have tested chlorocresol (4-chloro-o-cresol), a soil metabolite of the pesticide MCPA (4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy acetic acid). Embryos were exposed to the chlorocresol (40, 30 mg/l of control FETAX solution) during the cleavage phase. This treatment causes a lethality in concentration-dependent manner. Lethality, evaluated at the end of the test (5 days post fertilization), was due to an high frequency of severe malformed embryos not surviving during the test.