Reproduction of aquatic hyphomycetes at low concentrations of Ca2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, and Cd2+

✍ Scribed by Kandikere R. Sridhar; Felix Bärlocher

• Book ID: 102198400
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 116 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0730-7268
• DOI: 10.1002/etc.697

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Maple leaf disks were conditioned in a stream for three weeks and then aerated for 2 d in distilled water to induce fungal sporulation. The release of aquatic hyphomycete spores increased when the water was supplemented with low concentrations of Ca^2+^ (5 µg/L), Zn^2+^ (2.5 µg/L), Cu^2+^ (0.5 µg/L), or Cd^2+^ (0.125 µg/L). Higher supplement concentrations inhibited sporulation. Over the concentration range used, the sporulation response was generally best described by a quadratic regression, suggesting a biphasic or hormetic response. A similar pattern was found with the number of fungal species as the dependent variable. Anguillospora filiformis and Anguillospora longissima were generally least inhibited by metal supplements, and Ca^2+^ was the least and Cd^2+^ the most toxic metal. Combinations of metals had a more severe effect on fungal sporulation than predicted from addition of the effects of the metals in isolation. The biological significance of the hormetic response is unclear; however, acknowledging it is clearly relevant for establishing guidelines or recommendations in toxicology. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2011;30:2868–2873. © 2011 SETAC