Delayed luminescence of microalgae as an indicator of metal toxicity

The delayed luminescence (DL) (i.e. the photo-induced photon emission long after the illumination is switched off) of unicellular green algae samples has been measured when different concentrations of heavy metals are added to the standard culture medium, with the aim of assessing the DL as a promising approach for assaying the toxicity of contaminants such as metals. In particular, samples of freshwater green micro-algae Selenastrum capricornutum have been used. Concentrations of cadmium, chromium, lead and copper, ranging from 10−5 to 10−2 M, have been tested. The analysis of the decay trends, in the time interval from tens of microseconds to seconds, of the DL spectral components demonstrates that the DL parameters are sensitive to the presence of such pollutants. More precisely, the performed analysis allowed us to determine phenomenological relationships between the DL parameters and the metal concentration that could be used in view of the possibility of realizing a biosensor for water pollution detection. Attempts to distinguish between different contaminants are also described. Results of this preliminary study show that the DL measure based technique is suitable as a general bioassay of metal contamination and it could also be used to test the efficiency in bioavailability studies.