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Cultures of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum were grown under laboratory light with a different fraction of ultraviolet radiation (UV) to study the potential role of photoadaptation in determining the sensitivity to photoenhanced toxicity of acridine. In short-term experiments, a higher acridine concentration was needed to inhibit the photosynthetic electron flux, monitored with chlorophyll a fluorescence, in algae exposed to fluorescent light (low UV) than to mercury light (high UV), consistent with the expected role of UV. The two types of light in long-term exposures led to changes in the pigment composition and photosystem I (PS I) to photosystem II (PS II) stoichiometry to optimize the utilization of fluorescent and mercury light. Despite the adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus to a small fraction of UV, long-term exposure to mercury light did show a constant sensitivity of the photosynthetic efficiency of P. tricornutum to the phototoxic acridine. It is concluded that the prime receptor of photoenhanced toxicity may be unrelated to the photosynthetic machinery.

Photosynthetic biofilms are capable of immobilizing important concentrations of metals, therefore reducing bioavailability to organisms. But also metal pollution is believed to produce changes in the microalgal species composition of biofilms. We investigated the changes undergone by natural photosynthetic biofilms from the River Meuse, The Netherlands, under chronic copper (Cu) exposure. The suspended particles in the river water had only a minor effect on reduction of sorption and toxicity of Cu to algae. Biofilms accumulated Cu proportionally to the added concentration, also at the highest concentration used (9 microM Cu). The physiognomy of the biofilms was affected through the growth of the chain-forming diatom Melosira varians, changing from long filaments to short tufts, although species composition was not affected by the Cu exposure. The Cu decreased phosphate uptake and algal biomass measured as chl a, which degraded exponentially in time. Photosynthetic activity was always less sensitive than algal biomass; the photon yield decreased linearly in time. The protective and insulating role of the biofilm, supported by ongoing autotrophic activity, was indicated as essential in resisting metal toxicity. We discuss the hypothesis that the toxic effects of Cu progress almost independently of the species composition, counteracting ongoing growth, and conclude that autotrophic biofilms act as vertical heterogeneous units. Effective feedback mechanisms and density dependence explain several discrepancies observed earlier.

The benthic diatom Gomphonema parvulum Kützing is a common species in both clean and metal contaminated rivers. Our aim was to investigate whether metal-induced tolerance could explain the persistance of this taxon under metal polluted conditions. G. parvulum strains were isolated from a Zn- and Cd-contaminated stream and from a relatively clean ("reference") stream. The strains were cultured in synthetic medium as mono-specific biofilms to maintain their specific benthic growth features. Moreover, the strain from the metal polluted stream was cultured in plain and Zn- and Cd-enriched synthetic medium. Short-term (5 h) toxicity experiments with Zn were performed with the strains using pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry. Zn lowered significantly the minimal chlorophyll fluorescence (F0) and the photon yield (phi(p)) of the exposed strains after 5 h exposure. The actual Zn concentrations that caused a 50% reduction (EC50's) of the phi(p) of the strain from the metal polluted stream were significantly higher than those of the isolate from the unpolluted stream. The absence of tolerance to Cu of the "polluted" strain indicated that Zn tolerance resulted from specific induction by chronic exposure to Zn in the field. Observations on field biofilms confirmed a higher tolerance of the G. parvulum population from the polluted stream than of the G. parvulum population from the reference stream. A genetic nature of this metal adaptation was supported by the persistance of the Zn tolerance of the polluted strain 2 years after isolation.

1. The effect of phosphate on species composition in biofilms was studied under three different phosphate regimes (0.5, 5 and 50 μ m) in two different multi species communities: one composed of the four diatom species Melosira varians, Nitzschia perminuta, Navicula trivialis and Achnanthes lanceolata and one containing these diatom species plus the two cyanobacterial species Leptolyngbya foveolarum and Cylindrospermum stagnale. 2. Algal growth in monocultures and mixtures was measured as chlorophyll a and PAM fluorimetry was applied to document density and physiological condition of the two main groups of photosynthetic organisms in mixed cultures. 3. In phosphate-replete communities, a single species dominated the community ( N. perminuta in the diatom mixture and L. foveolarum in the all species mixture), while in the phosphate-deprived communities several species persisted, in spite of severe phosphate limitation. 4. We conclude that high supply of phosphate enables the species L. foveolarum, and to a lesser extent N. perminuta, to overgrow biofilm consortia, facilitated by their filamentous growth form, motility or the excretion of inhibitors. The persistence of several species under a low phosphate regime is explained by a less intense interspecific interaction in low-density biofilms. This clarifies field observations published previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]