Comparison of methods to measure acute metal and organometal toxicity to natural aquatic microbial communities.
AUTOR(ES)
Jonas, R B
RESUMO
Microbial communities in water from Baltimore Harbor and from the mainstem of Chesapeake Bay were examined for sensitivity to mercuric chloride, monomethyl mercury, stannic chloride, and tributyltin chloride. Acute toxicity was determined by measuring the effects of [3H]thymidine incorporation, [14C]glutamate incorporation and respiration, and viability as compared with those of controls. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were low for all metals (monomethyl mercury, less than 0.05 microgram liter-1; mercuric chloride, less than 1 microgram liter-1; tributyltin chloride, less than 5 micrograms liter-1) except stannic chloride (5 mg liter-1). In some cases, mercuric chloride and monomethyl mercury were equally toxic at comparable concentrations. The Chesapeake Bay community appeared to be slightly more sensitive to metal stress than the Baltimore Harbor community, but this was not true for all treatments or assays. For culturable bacteria the opposite result was found. Thymidine incorporation and glutamate metabolism were much more sensitive indicators of metal toxicity than was viability. To our knowledge, this is the first use of the thymidine incorporation method for ecotoxicology studies. We found it the easiest and fastest of the three methods; it is at least equal in sensitivity to metabolic measurements, and it likely measures the effects on greater portion of the natural community.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=240040Documentos Relacionados
- Use of the adenylate energy charge ratio to measure growth state of natural microbial communities.
- Effect of adaptation to phenol on biodegradation of monosubstituted phenols by aquatic microbial communities.
- Amplification, cloning, and sequencing of a nifH segment from aquatic microorganisms and natural communities.
- Adaptation of Aquatic Microbial Communities to Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
- Adaptation of Aquatic Microbial Communities to Hg2+ Stress †