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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 6093

F. Berhin, C. Houba, and J. Remacle; Cadmium Toxicity and Accumulation by Tetrahymena pyriformis in Contaminated River Waters. Environ.Pollut.A 35:315-329, 1984

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Tetrahymena pyriformis was cultured in river samples of various origins. The water samples were characterised by a set of physico-chemical parameters and were contaminated with cadmium. Toxicity was defined as the linear relationship between growth reduction versus Cd concentrations in the culture. Toxicity decreased as the soluble carbon content of the water increased. Accumulation was studied in a similar way with river samples contaminated with 100 µgCd litre-1 (sub-lethal dose) or 500 µgCd litre-1 (lethal dose). The accumulation process was very different at each concentration. At higher concentration, cellular uptake was governed by the organic carbon, zinc and sodium concentrations, and by the conductivity of the river water. The accumulation in the presence of 100 µgCd litre-1 was controlled by the concentrations of potassium, magnesium and phosphate.