Effect of Barium and Nickel on the Growth of Anacystis nidulans

Abstract

Anacystis nidulans is a simple, unicellular, prokaryotic microorganism. Like other cyanobacteria it is an obligate photoautotroph that is similar to gram-negative bacteria in cell wall structure, replication, and ability to harbor plasmids. Cyanobacteria are excellent organisms to serve as models for the investigation of a wide variety of biological problems, including indicators of environmental pollution. There have been several studies on the effects of heavy metals on A. nidulans. Toxic metals are a major water pollution problem. Metals come from natural weathering processes of the earth`s crust, but industrialization and urbanization have led to an increase in contamination of aquatic environments, mainly from industrial discharge, pest or disease control agents applied to plants, urban run-off, mining, soil erosion, sewage effluents, air pollution fallout, and other sources. Among these contaminants are nickel, barium, and their derivatives. This study examined the effects of selected concentrations of nickel chloride and barium chloride on the growth of A. nidulans, with and without the addition of EDTA. 19 refs., 3 figs.