Abstract
The responses of ship-fouling and non-fouling isolates of Enteromorpha compressa (L.) Grev. have been compared in media containing copper at 0.0−9.6 μmol · dm −3. The responses of each isolate were found to vary, according to the conditions of the original habitat. Thus ship-fouling E. compressa was found to be tolerant of copper concentrations up to 9.6 μmol · dm −3 showing a maintenance of all of the physiological processes studied during the present research (cell viability, net photosynthesis, intracellular K + and dimethylsulphoniopropionate content). Non-fouling plant material showed symptoms of copper toxicity at all levels of copper from 1.8 μmol · dm −3 to 9.6 μmol · dm −3. Copper tolerance in ship-fouling E. compressa appears to be genetically determined, since the progeny from ship-fouling plants are also tolerant to copper concentrations within the range 1.8 to 9.6 μmol · dm −3. The rate of accumulation of copper in ship-fouling thalli is, however, almost identical to that of non-fouling thalli, suggesting that tolerance may be due primarily to internal detoxification, rather than an exclusion mechanism.
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