Department of Life Science, Sangmyung University, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Smart Green Technology Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan, South Korea.
Water Environ Res. 2024 Sep;96(9):e11128. doi: 10.1002/wer.11128.
Microalgae are unicellular, photosynthetic organisms in aquatic environments and are sensitive to water quality and contaminants. While green algae and diatoms are widely used for toxicity assessments, there is a relatively limited amount of toxicity data available for freshwater dinoflagellates. Here, we evaluated the sub-lethal effects of the metals Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn and the herbicides atrazine and S-metolachlor on the freshwater dinoflagellate Palatinus apiculatus. Based on the 72-h median effective concentration (EC), P. apiculatus showed sensitive responses to metals in the order of Cu (0.052 mg L), Cr (0.085 mg L), Zn (0.098 mg L), and Ni (0.13 mg L). Among the tested herbicides, P. apiculatus was more sensitive to atrazine (0.0048 mg L) than S-metolachlor (0.062 mg L). In addition, we observed morphological alterations and significant increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in cells exposed to 0.05 mg L of Cu and 0.005 mg L of atrazine. These indicated that metals and pesticides induced oxidative stress in cellular metabolic processes and consequently caused severe physiological damage to the cells. Our results provide baseline data on the toxic effects of typical environmental contaminants on freshwater dinoflagellate, suggesting that P. apiculatus could be used as a bioindicator in freshwater toxicity assessments. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The sub-lethal effects of metals and pesticides on the freshwater dinoflagellate Palatinus apiculatus were evaluated. Palatinus sensitively responded to metals and pesticides; of test chemicals, atrazine (0.0048 mg L of EC50) was the most sensitive. Metals and pesticides induced oxidative stress and consequently caused severe physiological damage to the Palatinus cells. The freshwater dinoflagellate Palatinus can be used as a bioindicator in freshwater toxicity assessments.
微藻是水生环境中的单细胞光合生物，对水质和污染物敏感。虽然绿藻和硅藻广泛用于毒性评估，但淡水甲藻的毒性数据相对有限。在这里，我们评估了金属 Cu、Cr、Ni 和 Zn 以及除草剂莠去津和 S-甲草氯对淡水甲藻 Palatinus apiculatus 的亚致死效应。根据 72 小时的中效浓度 (EC)，P. apiculatus 对金属的敏感程度依次为 Cu（0.052 mg/L）、Cr（0.085 mg/L）、Zn（0.098 mg/L）和 Ni（0.13 mg/L）。在所测试的除草剂中，P. apiculatus 对莠去津（0.0048 mg/L）比对 S-甲草氯（0.062 mg/L）更敏感。此外，我们观察到暴露于 0.05 mg/L Cu 和 0.005 mg/L 莠去津的细胞发生形态改变和活性氧（ROS）产生显著增加。这表明金属和农药在细胞代谢过程中诱导了氧化应激，从而对细胞造成严重的生理损伤。我们的结果提供了典型环境污染物对淡水甲藻毒性影响的基线数据，表明 P. apiculatus 可作为淡水毒性评估中的生物指标。
评估了金属和农药对淡水甲藻 Palatinus apiculatus 的亚致死效应。Palatinus 对金属和农药敏感；在测试的化学物质中，莠去津（EC50 为 0.0048 mg/L）最敏感。金属和农药诱导了氧化应激，从而对 Palatinus 细胞造成严重的生理损伤。淡水甲藻 Palatinus 可用于淡水毒性评估中的生物指标。
