A comparison between toxicity tests using single species and a microbial process.
In this study the sensitivity of the acetate mineralization process performed by five strains of microorganisms in soil for the toxicants Zn2+ or PCP was calculated from the sensitivity of the contributing species. The species used were a fungus (Aspergillus niger CBS 121.49), an actinomycete (Streptomyces lividans 66), two Gram-negative Pseudomonas putida strains (MT-2 and DSM 50026) and a Gram-positive strain Rhodococcus erythropolis A177. For zinc the EC10 of the process performed by the five strains together was 77 mg/kg whereas for pentachlorophenol it was 2 mg/kg. The EC10 of the process was compared with the EC50 of the most sensitive species contributing to the process. P. putida MT2 was the most zinc sensitive strain (EC50 = 22 mg Zn/kg) and A. niger was the most sensitive strain for pentachlorophenol (EC50 = 1.4 mg/kg). This shows that a 10% inhibition of a process can be accompanied by a more than 50% inhibition of the most sensitive species.
van Beelen
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National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Fleuren-Kemilä
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AK
D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000187:drug effects; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D010416:Pentachlorophenol / Q000633:toxicity*; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000187:drug effects; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013302:Streptomyces / Q000187:drug effects; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D015033:Zinc Isotopes
D000085:Acetates; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D015033:Zinc Isotopes; D010416:Pentachlorophenol