Ecotoxicity assessment of microcystins from freshwater samples using a bioluminescent cyanobacterial bioassay.

Ecotoxicity assessment of microcystins from freshwater samples using a bioluminescent cyanobacterial bioassay. Chemosphere. 2020 Feb;240:124966 Authors: González-Pleiter M, Cirés S, Wörmer L, Agha R, Pulido-Reyes G, Martín-Betancor K, Rico A, Leganés F, Quesada A, Fernández-Piñas F Abstract The hepatotoxic cyanotoxins microcystins (MCs) are emerging contaminants naturally produced by cyanobacteria. Yet their ecological role remains unsolved, previous research suggests that MCs have allelopathic effects on competing photosynthetic microorganisms, even eliciting toxic effects on other freshwater cyanobacteria. In this context, the bioluminescent recombinant cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC7120 CPB4337 (hereinafter Anabaena) was exposed to extracts of MCs. These were obtained from eight natural samples from freshwater reservoirs that contained MCs with a concentration range of 0.04-11.9 μg MCs L-1. MCs extracts included the three most common MCs variants (MC-LR, MC-RR, MC-YR) in different proportions (MC-LR: 100-0%; MC-RR: 100-0%; MC-YR: 14.2-0%). The Anabaena bioassay based on bioluminescence inhibition has been successfully used to test the toxicity of many emerging contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals) but never for cyanotoxins prior to this study. Exposure of Anabaena to MCs extracts induced a decrease in its bioluminescence with effective concentration decreasing bioluminescence by 50% ranging from 0.4 to 50.5 μg MC ...
Source: Chemosphere - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Chemosphere Source Type: research