MONITORING OF COPPER CONTAMINATION: A LABORATORY STUDY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY TO USE CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE PARAMETERS OF THREE GREEN MICROALGAE.

With the rising of environmental level of copper, the use of algae to assess copper contamination has drawn wide attention. The effects of copper at concentrations be-tween 0.36-1.43 mg.l^-1 was investigated on growth, photo-synthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence parame-ters of three green algae. And the sensitivity of major chlo-rophyll fluorescence parameters to copper exposure was especially evaluated. Based on median effective concen-tration (EC₅₀) values, Scenedesmus obliquus was the most sensitive species to copper and relative electron transport rate (rETR) was the most sensitive parameter in Scenedes-mus obliquus. Chlorella pyrenoidosa was the least sensi-tive to copper toxicity. Chlamydomonas reinhardii was also not suitable for monitoring copper contamination due to its fast recovery and irregularly fluctuating EC₅₀s. Chlo-rophyll fluorescence of Scenedesmus obliquus can be used for online monitoring of copper contaminations in fresh-waters of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]