The unicellular fungal tool RhoTox for risk assessments in groundwater systems.
The recent inclusion of yeasts in environmental monitoring recognizes their ecological significance and sensitivity to toxicants. Here we present a robust and simple two-step toxicity assay and demonstrate the sensitivity of an ubiquitous groundwater yeast, Rhodotorula minuta, to a range of metals and metalloids. The test species was sensitive to copper with a 24h EC50 of 35µg Cu/L, followed in order of decreasing sensitivity by zinc, chromium (VI) and arsenic (EC50 4.40mg As (III)/L). The strain demonstrated an unexpected tolerance to chromium (VI), having an EC50 value (3.45mg Cr (VI)/L) similar to that of arsenic. The inclusion of a unicellular, microbial test-species into the suite of existing multicellular test species for toxicity evaluation is a key step towards strengthening the assessment of risk for groundwater ecosystems.
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2019, Australia. Electronic address: maria.lategan@mq.edu.au.
Maria Josie
MJ
Lategan
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2019, Australia.
William
W
Klare
National Mycology Reference Centre, SA Pathology, South Australia 5000, Australia.
Sarah
S
Kidd
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2019, Australia.
Grant C
GC
Hose
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2019, Australia.
Helena
H
Nevalainen
D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D012248:Rhodotorula / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D008670:Metals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Groundwater; Metals; Risk assessment; Toxicity; Yeast