Tolerance of an Aquatic Macrophyte Potamogeton crispus L.to Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate

E. A. Solomonova and S. A. Ostroumov. Tolerance of an Aquatic Macrophyte Potamogeton crispus L.to Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate. Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 62, No. 4, p. 176–179.
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sergei_Ostroumov/blog/6643_ToleranceMacrophytes;
DOI: 10.3103/S0096392507040074; http://www.scribd.com/doc/45556848;
Abstract: Macrophytes are important components of ecosystems and participate in the purification of water, which contributes to the sustainability of water quality. This is especially important in conditions of pollution of water bodies and water streams. Surfactants constitute an important class of pollutants. Therefore, further investigation and clarification of the facts concerning the interaction of plants and various surfactants are necessary. The present paper presents the results of investigations of the effect of various concentrations of aqueous solutions of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) on the viability of the aquatic macrophytes, the pondweed Potamogeton crispus L. When the effects of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate on the aquatic macrophytes Potamogeton crispus L. were studied, it was found that the concentrations of 83–133 mg/l caused fragmentation of the stems of plants. The tolerance of the plants to the negative effects of the surfactant was higher in the spring (April) than in the autumn (September). DOI:10.3103/S0096392507040074;
Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 62, No. 4, p. 176–179. ISSN 0096-3925, © Allerton Press, Inc., 2007. Available at SpringerLink;
Original Russian Text © E.A. Solomonova, S.A. Ostroumov, 2007, published in Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Biologiya, 2007, No. 4, pp. 39–42.
Keywords: effects, surfactant, aquatic, macrophytes, Potamogeton, crispus, Concentrations, fragmentation, stems, plants, negative, pollution, detergents, phytoremediation, chemico-biotic interactions, water quality, sodium dodecyl sulphate, SDS, S.A.Ostroumov
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Macrophytes are important components of ecosystems
and participate in the purification of water and
support its quality (McCutcheon and Schnoor, 2003;
Wetzel, 2001). This is especially important in conditions
of pollution of water bodies and water courses.
Surfactants constitute a class of pollutants. The ecological
danger of surfactants is still insufficiently investigated
and analyzed. On the one hand, there are numerous
publications on various bioeffects and disturbances
of the structure and function of organisms under the
action of synthetic surfactants (Davydov et al., 1997;
Ostroumov, 2001, 2005, 2006). On the other hand,
some authors do not qualify surfactants as major pollutants
(Moore and Ramamoorthy, 1984) and believe that,
ecologically, they are not highly dangerous for aquatic
ecosystems (Fendinger et al., 1994).
On the basis of studies of the effect of surfactants
and surfactant-containing mixtures and the elucidation
and comparison of the tolerance of organisms belonging
to different taxa, it was suggested to use angiospermous
plants for phytoremediation (Ostroumov, 2001).
In this aspect, further investigation and clarification of
the facts concerning the interaction of plants and various
xenobiotics are necessary.
The present paper presents the results of investigations
of the effect of various concentrations of aqueous
solutions of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate
(SDS) on the viability of the aquatic macrophyte
pondweed
Potamogeton crispus
L.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
In the experiments with the pondweed, two–four
stems with a combined biomass of 7.0–7.5 g were
placed in vessels with tap water (volume 1.2 l) preliminarily
allowed to settle for 48 hours. The prepared stock
solution of SDS in water (concentration of 2 mg/ml) was
added to the vessels at intervals of 48 h for 20 days. The
volume of the added solution in the case of a single
addition was 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.50, 1.00, 5.00, 10.00,
and 30.00 ml. The increment of the concentration of
SDS was 0.17, 0.33, 0.50, 0.83, 1.67, 8.30, 16.60, and
49.80 mg/l, respectively. Also, a series of experiments
was arranged with a single introduction of SDS. In this
case, the concentration of SDS in the vessels was 83.3,
100.0, and 133.3 mg/l, respectively. The experiments
were carried out with the water temperature in the vessels
being 19–23
°
C with normal room illumination in
April and September. The level of the effect of SDS on
the macrophytes was estimated using a 10-point scale.
In the elaboration of the scale, several visual characteristics
of the state of the plants were taken into consideration,
including the separation of the stem fragments
and the separation of the leaves and their pigmentation
(Table 1).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The experiments with pondweed collected in September
demonstrated that, when the sum total of the
added SDS attained 6.68 mg/l (eight days into the
experiment), the turgor of the stems decreased (Table 2).
At the same stage of the experiment in the vessels with
the sum total of SDS from 33.20 to 199.20 mg/l, considerable
fragmentation was observed (Table 2): at
33 mg/l, the level of impact of the SDS was 9 points; at
199 mg/l, it was 10 points.
In April, a decrease of the turgor was recorded when
the sum total of the SDS attained 3.32 mg/l (8 days into
the experiment). However, in April, the process of fragmentation
in the vessels with higher concentrations of
SDS developed less intensively than in the experiments
carried out in September. In April, in the vessels with
the sum total of the SDS equal to 33 mg/l, the level of
the impact of the SDS was only equal to one point
(Table 3).
Thus, in the autumn, the tolerance of the pondweed
to SDS (four additions of the aqueous solution of SDS
were added over eight days) was somewhat lower than
in the spring. The relatively high tolerance of the pond-