A novel response of wild‐type duckweed ( Lemna paucicostata Hegelm.) to heavy metals

The responses of wild‐type Lemna paucicostata, used as the experimental stock, to seven heavy metals were investigated with a hydroponic culture in a culture facility. The results showed that six of the metals could induce L. paucicostata to release daughter fronds from the mother frond before maturity, resulting in breakup of the colony. This phenomenon is novel and has not been reported before. Six of the heavy metals investigated—copper, cadmium, nickel, zinc, mercury, and chromium—could induce this response, but sensitivity and response of the plant varied. When Cu 2+ at a concentration of 0.2 μmol/L was added, the response was significantly different from that of the control after a 2‐h exposure. The response to cadmium (0.8 μmol/L) was significantly different after a 6‐h exposure; to zinc (10 μmol/L) and nickel (5 μmol/L), after 5 and 7 h, respectively. But for lead, even at a concentration of 80 μmol/L for 96 h, no colony breakup was induced. The response to heavy metals occurred within 24 h; increasing the exposure by another 24 h had nearly no additional effect on the colony breakup. When the response was over, the number of colonies with fronds varied with the inducement capacity of the metal. Nutrients could affect the sensitivity of L. paucicostata to some heavy metals, such as mercury, chromium, zinc, and nickel, but not to copper and cadmium. Sensitivity was also changed when CuCl 2 was used as the copper source instead of CuSO 4 . These results indicate that some heavy metals could serve as a toxicant for inducing L. paucicostata to release daughter fronds in advance. This change might involve a stress response such as ethylene production. Also discussed is the possibility of this response as a biomarker in a bioassay. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 19: 95–102, 2004