VEGETOS: Eine internationale Zeitschrift für Pflanzenforschung

Survival And Reproduction of Some Blue-Green And Green Algae Under Different Chemical Pollutants

Suman Gupta and S C Agrawal

Survival And Reproduction of Some Blue-Green And Green Algae Under Different Chemical Pollutants.

Fourteen blue- green and green algae survived for widely different time periods ranging between 22- 102 d in control culture medium. Irrespective of their long or short survival period in control cultures, their pro- or eukaryotic nature, their different morphological types or natural habitats, they all survived for a short time period ranging between 2- 4 d in 20,000 ppm gammaxine, captan, DDT, 2, 4-D or detergent; 2- 7 d in 20,000 ppm urea; 2- 3 d in 20,000 ppm thiourea; ½- 2 d in 20,000 ppm endosulfan; 2- 7 d in 1,000 ppm Ni or Zn; 1- 6 d in 1,000 ppm Cu; ½- 4 d in 1,000 ppm Co; ½- 3 d in 1,000 ppm Pb; ½- 2 d in 1,000 ppm Hg; 2- 5 d in 100% kerosene oil and ½- 2 d in 100% petrol (showing the relative toxicity of different chemicals to different algae). Dilution decreased the toxicity of these agents very little, indicating that they all were very toxic to algae. None of the agent induced the formation of any reproductive or dormant cells. Gammaxine, captan, DDT, 2, 4-D, urea, detergent, petrol, kerosene, endosulfan, Ni, Zn, or Pb favored the formation of necridia cells in Phormidium bohneri/ P. foveolarum/ Microcoleus chthonoplastes/ Lyngbya birgei and/ or L. major filaments. Scenedesmus quadricauda shed off all spines earlier, Hormidium flaccidum fragmented less or not at all, Scytonema millei formed no false branch and heterocyst, Aphanothece pallida and Gloeocapsa atrata cells did not divide, Cosmarium granatum cells did not form any zygospore, and Oedogonium sp. not any oogonialike cells under all or most of treatments with 100- 20,000 ppm gammaxine, captan, DDT, 2, 4- D, endosulfan, urea, thiourea, detergent; 1- 1,000 ppm Ni, Cu, Co, Zn, Pb or Hg; 1-100% petrol and kerosene....