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Mixture toxicity of copper and zinc to barley at low level effects can be described by the Biotic Ligand Model

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Abstract

Background and aims

The biotic ligand model (BLM) is a bioavailability model for metals based on the concept that toxicity depends on the concentration of metal bound to a biological binding site; the biotic ligand. Here, we evaluated the BLM to interpret and explain mixture toxicity of metals (Cu and Zn).

Methods

The mixture toxicity of Cu and Zn to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was tested with a 4 days root elongation test in resin buffered nutrient solutions. Toxicity of one toxicant was tested in presence or absence of a low effect level of the other toxicant or in a ray design with constant toxicant ratios. All treatments ran at three different Ca concentrations (0.3, 2.2 and 10 mM) to reveal ion interaction effects.

Results

The 50 % effect level (EC50) of one metal, expressed as the free ion in solution, significantly (p < 0.05) increased by adding a low level effect of the other metal at low Ca. Such antagonistic interactions were smaller or became insignificant at higher Ca levels. The Cu EC10 was unaffected by Zn whereas the Zn EC10 increased by Cu at low Ca. These effects obeyed the BLM combined with the independent action model for toxicants.

Conclusions

The BLM model explains the observed interactions by accounting for competition between both metals free ions and Ca2+ at the Cu and Zn biotic ligands. The implications of these findings for Cu/Zn interactions in soil are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders (FWO) for financial support (project FWOG0460.12).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division Soil and Water Management, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Liske Versieren, Elke Smets & Erik Smolders

  2. Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, UGent, Ghent, Belgium

    Karel De Schamphelaere

  3. Laboratory for Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Ronny Blust

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  1. Liske Versieren
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  2. Elke Smets
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  3. Karel De Schamphelaere
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  4. Ronny Blust
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  5. Erik Smolders
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liske Versieren.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Yong Chao Liang..

Electronic supplementary material

Additional information as noted in the text on nominal free metal concentrations and measured total dissolved metal concentrations, measured net root elongation in the different treatments, full dose–response curves and comparison of the CA and the IA model is available as supporting information.

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Versieren, L., Smets, E., De Schamphelaere, K. et al. Mixture toxicity of copper and zinc to barley at low level effects can be described by the Biotic Ligand Model. Plant Soil 381, 131–142 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2117-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2117-6

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