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Assessment of Hg2+ toxicity to a N2-fixing cyanobacterium in long- and short-term experiments

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Abstract

Toxicological responses of the filamentous N2-fixing cyanobacteriumNostoc calcicola Bréb. towards Hg2+ were studied to enumerate the decisive lethal events. In low-dose, long-term experiments (0.05–0.25 μm Hg2+, 10 days), photoautotrophic growth was severely inhibited with concurrent loss of photosynthetic pigments (phycocyanin>chlorophyll α>carotenoids) and nucleic acids. The termination of growth after a day 4 exposure to 0.25 μm Hg2+ has been attributed to the complete inhibition ofin vivo photosynthetic activity in the cyanobacterium (O2 evolution>14CO2 incorporation). The elevated Hg2+ concentrations irreversibly damaged the cell membrance as observed under light microscopy, and as indicated by the leakage of intracellular electrolytes and phycocyanin. In high-dose, short-term experiments (0.5–20.0 μm Hg2+, up to 6 h), thein vivo activities of selected enzymes (glutamine synthetase > nitrate reductase > nitrogenase) were less inhibited by Hg2+ than the uptake of nutrient ions (NH +4 >NO −3 >PO 3−4 ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Algal Research Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India

    Chandra Bhushan Singh & S. P. Singh

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  1. Chandra Bhushan Singh
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  2. S. P. Singh
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Singh, C.B., Singh, S.P. Assessment of Hg2+ toxicity to a N2-fixing cyanobacterium in long- and short-term experiments. Biometals 5, 149–156 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01061321

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01061321

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