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Response of two strains of Nostoc muscorum to metal stress and salinity
Author(s) -
PANDEY U.,
CHATTERJEE C.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1999.tb05262.x
Subject(s) - biology , salinity , photosynthesis , cadmium , strain (injury) , botany , chlorophyll , cyanobacteria , metal , copper , food science , bacteria , chemistry , ecology , genetics , organic chemistry , anatomy
Summary Two strains of a cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum , wild‐type N. muscorum (Cd s ) and an isolate having resistance to the heavy metal cadmium (Cd r ), were selected for characterisation of their growth potential and physiological assays in certain defined stress environments. The chosen determinants were copper (heavy metal) and NaCl (salt stress). The observations on growth, heterocyst frequency, chlorophyll and nucleic acid contents, photosynthetic O 2 evolution, 14 C incorporation and acetylene reduction suggested that the strain Cd r was also resistant to copper. This strain, however, was found to be more sensitive to NaCl in comparison to its wild‐type counterpart. NaCl was found to enhance sugar accumulation in Cd s and was more inhibitory to acetylene reduction rates than to the photosynthetic activities. The interaction between Cu and NaCl appeared to be antagonistic as the depression of growth and physiological activities by a mixture of the two was lesser than that caused by either of these. These observations form the first report on the response of a metal resistant strain of cyanobacterium to salinity.