Insect (Locusta migratoria migratorioides) test monitoring the toxicity of cyanobacteria.

An insect test was developed to investigate the toxicity of cyanobacteria. The African locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides R.F. was used as a test animal instead of mouse. The cyanobacteria tested were Aphanizomenon flos-aque, Anabaena aphanizomenoides, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Microcystis aeruginosa. The toxicity of authentic microcystin-LR was also tested. Cyanobacteria producing toxins killed the animals when the homogenized cell suspension was injected into the animals. The locust test proved to be more sensitive than the mouse test. The LD50 values of the different cyanobacteria for locusts and for mice, respectively were the following: 90 microg/animal (60 mg/kg) and 8000 microg/animal (320 mg/kg), for Aphanizomenon flos-aquae; 255 microg/animal (170.2 mg/kg) and 3750 microg/animal (150 mg/kg), for Anabaena aphanizomenoides; 195 microg/animal (131.4 mg/kg) and 5750 microg/animal (230 mg/kg), for Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii; 22.5 microg/animal (15 mg/kg) and 6000 microg/ animal (240 mg/kg), for Microcystis aeruginosa. In locusts the LD50 value for authentic microcystin-LR was 0.2 microg/animal (130 mg/kg). Since the weight of the mice is 15 to 20 times larger than that of the locusts, hence less toxic cells are needed to kill the locusts. The locust test is cheaper than the mouse test, large number of animals can be used in the experiments and the LD50 values can be estimated more precisely. The toxicity of C. raciborskii was significantly lower when the lyophilized cells were extracted in methanol (LD50 = 767 mg/kg), instead of NaCl solution (LD50 = 131.4 mg/kg).