Chlorobium Chlorophyll as an Indicator of Organic Pollution in a Paleolimnological Investigation

Abstract

AbstractThe object of the investigation was the strongly polluted Dłlugie Lake, Poland. Due to the development of the city of Olsztyn, for many years untreated municipal wastes were discharged into the lake. In the core of bottom sediments the occurrence of bacteriochlorophyll a pheophytin (Fig. 1) and Chlorobium chlorophylls and their degradation products (Fig. 2 and 3) were observed, which suggested the presence of photosynthetic bacteria from the family Chlorobiaceae COPELAND. The development of the Chlorobiaceae population was caused by the increase of organic pollution as an effect of the urbanization process of the city of Olsztyn. It was shown that Chlorobium chlorophylls can be used as indicators of organic pollution in paleolimnological investigation.