Toxicant Induced Changes on Delayed Fluorescence Decay Kinetics of Cyanobacteria and Green Algae: A Rapid and Sensitive Biotest

Algal tests have developed into routine tools for testing toxicity of pollutants in aquatic environments. Meanwhile, in addition to algal growth rates, an increasing number of fluorescence based methods are used for rapid and sensitive toxicity measures. The present study stresses the suitability of delayed fluorescence (DF) as a promising parameter for biotests. DF is based on the recombination fluorescence at the reaction centre of photosystem II, which is emitted only by photosynthetically active cells. We analyzed the effects of three chemicals (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU), 3,5 Dichlorophenol (3,5 DCP) and copper) on the shape of the DF decay kinetics for potential use in phytoplankton toxicity tests. The short incubation tests were done with four phytoplankton species, with special emphasis on the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. All species exhibited a high sensitivity to DCMU, but cyanobacteria were more affected by copper and less by 3,5 DCP than the tested green algae. Analyses of changes in the DF decay curve in response to the added chemicals indicated the feasibility of the DF decay approach as a rapid and sensitive testing tool.