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12th International Symposium on Bioluminescence & Chemiluminescence |
Symposium abstracts:
Berden Zrimec, Maja, Zrimec, Alexis
Institute Bion, Stegne 21, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Email: maja.berden@bion.si
More than 800 samples of the Ljubljana surface waters were tested for toxicity using freshly prepared and frozen bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri (Microtox®). The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence for quick screening of the water toxicity in a large area. The bioluminiscence test proved to be very useful during the dry season when the toxic pollutants were concentrated in the riverbeds. The toxic pollution in larger water bodies was mostly non-detectable with the bioluminescent bacteria test due to the dillution-caused diminished concentration of toxic pollutants. The dillution-caused diminished toxicity was also observed in smaller riverbeds during the rain season although the pollution was still obvious. The results show that the concentration of the toxic pollutants had to be sufficiently high to influence V. fischeri bioluminescence. Bioluminescent toxicity tests of water sediments showed to bo more suitable because of accumulated toxic pollutants regardless of the momentary amount of water in the riverbeds.
This
is a preprint of an article accepted for publication in Luminescence: Copyright
2001 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd (Wiley website)