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Application of kinetic bioluminescence inhibition assay using live cultures of Aliivibrio fischeri for determination of zinc toxicity

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Abstract

Variation in zinc toxicity with variation in environmental conditions was studied using the kinetic bioluminescence inhibition assay conducted with live cultures of Aliivibrio fischeri. A good correlation was observed between the static assay and flash assay for colorless non-turbid samples. Color and turbidity had negligible impact on the flash assay results while the static assay caused artifacts. Naturally occurring water samples showed wide variation in the toxicity profiles. Change in zinc toxicity was determined in response to variation in hardness, alkalinity and other coexisting cations/anions in model lake water and in the presence of a solid matrix. The presence of other anions and cations in model lake water reduced and enhanced zinc toxicity, respectively, due to changes in zinc speciation, and bioluminescence inhibition was well correlated with free zinc ion concentration. Increase in alkalinity and sulfate in model lake water lowered zinc toxicity, whereas increase in ammonium ions enhanced the toxicity. Variation in toxicity with hardness was dependent on the Ca: Mg hardness ratio in the samples. The presence of solid matrix decreased toxicity of the aqueous extracts, and toxicity of the matrix was found to increase with decreasing grain size. Speciation pattern of zinc in the respective fractions, however, revealed no direct relationship between zinc associated with fraction that are considered bioavailable to higher organism and the observed toxicity. This assay may be recommended for toxicity analysis of environmental samples since most of the results obtained correlate well with observations reported in toxicity studies with higher organisms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Prof. Santanu Banerjee, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, for facilitating the studies for soil texture analysis.

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  1. Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE), Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    N. Shome & S. Mukherji

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  1. N. Shome
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  2. S. Mukherji
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Correspondence to S. Mukherji.

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Editorial responsibility: Josef Trögl

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Shome, N., Mukherji, S. Application of kinetic bioluminescence inhibition assay using live cultures of Aliivibrio fischeri for determination of zinc toxicity. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 1313–1322 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1479-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1479-8

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