Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:11:28.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Effect of Copper on the Green Alga Pithophora oedogonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Nina L. Pearlmutter
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot., Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA 50311
Carole A. Lembi
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot. and Plant Pathol., Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, IN 47907

Abstract

Akinetes (spores) of the green, filamentous alga Pithophora oedogonia (Montagne) Wittrock were more copper resistant than filamentous cells, tolerating copper concentrations as high as 4 μg·ml-1 (16 μg·ml-1 copper sulfate pentahydrate). The localization of copper in viable and nonviable cells was conducted using cell fractionation and cytochemical/ultrastructural methods. In copper-exposed viable akinetes, copper was bound primarily to the outer layers of the cell wall. In nonviable cells, copper was found randomly distributed throughout the cytoplasmic and vacuolar regions. No evidence for compartmentation of copper as vacuolar or intranuclear deposits was demonstrated. Copper uptake into the cell wall was associated with release of equimolar amounts of calcium, magnesium, and zinc. When viable copper-treated akinetes were allowed to recover in copper-free medium, the copper was gradually released from the cell wall, presumably to the culture medium. A portion of the copper also appeared to be redistributed to new cell wall material during the akinete germination process. The differential tolerance of P. oedogonia akinetes to copper in comparison to filamentous cells appears to be due to a combination of factors that include cell surface/volume ratios, metabolic activity, and cell wall copper-binding components.

Type
Physiology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Blair, H. S., Blair, S.E.M., Allen, M., and McGarel, D. 1982. Reduction of the algicidal properties of copper and mercury ions by chitin and chitosan. J. Biol. Educ. 16:7375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Brandes, D. and Elston, R. N. 1956. An electron microscopical study of the histochemical localization of alkaline phosphatase in the cell wall of Chlorella vulgaris . Nature 177:274275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Button, K. S. and Hostetter, H. P. 1977. Copper sorption and release by Cyclotella meneghiniana (Bacillariophyceae) and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlorophyceae). J. Phycol. 13: 198202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Eipper, A. W. 1959. Effects of five herbicides on farmpond plants and fish. N.Y. Fish Game J. 6:4556.Google Scholar
5. Francke, J. A. and Hillebrand, H. 1980. Effects of copper on some filamentous Chlorophyta. Aquat. Bot. 8:285289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Glooschenko, W. A. 1969. Accumulation of 203Hg by the marine diatom Chaetoceros costatum . J. Phycol. 5:224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Harold, F. M. 1962. Binding of inorganic polyphosphate to the cell wall of Neurospora crassa . Biochim. Biophys. Acta 57: 5966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Hassall, K. A. 1963. Uptake of copper and its physiological effects on Chlorella vulgaris . Physiol. Plant. 16:323332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Lewis, A. G., Whitfield, P., and Ramnarine, A. 1973. The reduction of copper toxicity in a marine copepod by sediment extraction. Limnol. Oceanogr. 18:324326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Lin, C. K. 1977. Accumulation of water soluble phosphorus and hydrolysis of polyphosphates by Cladophora glomerata (Chlorophyceae). J. Phycol. 13:4651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Luft, J. H. 1961. Improvements in epoxy resin embedding methods. J. Biophys. Biochem. Cytol. 9:409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. McKnight, D. M. and Morel, F.M.M. 1979. Release of weak and strong copper-complexing agents by algae. Limnol. Oceanogr. 24:823837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Nichols, H. W. 1973. Growth media–freshwater. Page 22 in Stein, J. R., ed. Handbook of Phycological Methods, Culture Methods, and Growth Measurements. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
14. O'Neal, S. W. and Lembi, C. A. 1983. Physiological changes during germination of Pithophora oedogonia (Chlorophyceae) akinetes. J. Phycol. 19:193199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Pearlmutter, N. L. and Lembi, C. A. 1980. Structure and composition of Pithophora oedogonia (Chlorophyta) cell walls. J. Phycol. 16:602616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Ricketts, T. K. 1965. Inorganic pyrophosphatase in Prymnesium parvum Carter. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 110:184190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Silverberg, B. A. 1975. Ultrastructural localization of lead in Stigeoclonium tenue (Chlorophyceae, Ulotrichales) as demonstrated by cytochemical and X-ray microanalysis. Phycologia 14:265274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Silverberg, B. A., Stokes, P. M., and Fernstenberg, L. B. 1976. Intra-nuclear complexes in a copper-tolerant green alga. J. Cell Biol. 69:210214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Skaar, H., Ophus, E., and Gullvag, B. M. 1973. Lead accumulation within the nuclei of moss leaf cells. Nature 241:215216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Somers, E. 1963. The uptake of copper by fungal cells. Ann. Appl. Biol. 52:425437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Spencer, D. F., Volpp, T. R., and Lembi, C. A. 1980. Environmental control of Pithophora oedogonia (Chlorophyceae) akinete germination. J. Phycol. 16:424427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Stokes, P. M., Huchinson, T. C., and Krauter, K. 1973. Heavy metal tolerance in algae isolated from contaminated lakes near Sudbury, Ontario. Can. J. Bot. 51:21552168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Tiffany, L. H. 1924. A physiological study of growth and reproduction among certain green algae. Ohio J. Sci. 24:6598.Google Scholar
24. Timm, F. 1960. Der histochemische nachweis der normalen schwermetalle der leber. Histochemie 2:150162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25. Timm, F. 1961. Der histochemische nachweis des kupfers im gehirn. Histochemie 2:332341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26. Turner, R. G. and Gregory, R.P.G. 1967. The use of radioisotopes to investigate heavy metal tolerance in plants. Pages 493509 in Proceedings of the Symposium on the Use of Isotopes in Plant Nutrition and Physiology, Isotopes in Plant Nutrition and Physiology. IAEA/FAO, Vienna.Google Scholar
27. Turner, R. G. and Marshall, C. 1971. The accumulation of 65Zn by root homogenates of zinc-tolerant and non-tolerant clones of Agrostis tenuis Sibth. New Phytol. 70:539545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. Turrell, F. M. 1946. Tables of Surfaces and Volumes of Spheres and of Prolate and Oblate Spheroids, and Spheroidal Coefficients. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. Page xxxi.Google Scholar
29. Van Seveninck, J. and Booij, H. L. 1964. The role of polyphosphate in the transport mechanism of glucose in yeast cells. J. Gen. Physiol. 48:4360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30. Whitton, B. A. 1970. Toxicity of zinc, copper and lead to Chlorophyta from flowing waters. Arch. Mikrobiol. 72:353360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31. Whitton, B. A. 1970. Toxicity of heavy metals to freshwater algae: a review. Phykos 9:116125.Google Scholar
32. Wu, L., Thurman, D. A., and Bradshaw, A. D. 1975. The uptake of copper and its effect upon respiratory processes of roots of copper-tolerant and non-tolerant clones of Agrostis stolonifera . New Phytol. 75:225229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Wu, L. and Antonovics, J. 1975. Zinc and copper uptake by Agrostis stolonifera tolerant to both zinc and copper. New Phytol. 75:231237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar