Resumen

SOTO, Paulina; GAETE, Hernán  y  HIDALGO, María Eliana. Assessment of catalase activity, lipid peroxidation, chlorophyll-a, and growth rate in the freshwater green algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata exposed to copper and zinc. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res. [online]. 2011, vol.39, n.2, pp. 280-285. ISSN 0718-560X.

In this work, the effect of copper and zinc on green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata was evaluated through catalase activity, lipid peroxidation by TBARS essay, growth rate, and the chlorophyll-a concentration. Catalase activity increased significantly (P < 0.05) in comparison to the control at 0.1 mg L^-1 copper and 0.075 mg L^-1 zinc, whereas the damage to the cell membrane expressed as nmols/10⁶cell of malondialdehyde increased significantly (P < 0.05) at 0.025 mg L^-1 copper and 0.1 mg L^-1 zinc. On the other hand, a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in chlorophyll-a concentration was found at 0.075 mg L^-1 of both metals. The results showed that catalase activity, lipid peroxidation, and chlorophyll-a concentration were more sensitive to metals than the growth rate.

Palabras clave : toxicity; bioassays; water quality; oxidative damage; Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata; Chile.