Potential use of flow cytometry in toxicity studies with microalgae

Cytotoxic effects of aquatic pollutants on microalgae are very heterogeneou s, and they are influenced by environmental conditions and the test species . Stress produced by copper or paraquat addition to the culture medium of t wo microalgae was analysed by flow cytometry. Parameters assayed were: cell volume, chlorophyll a fluorescence and cell viability. The variety of resu lts obtained in the present study reveals that flow cytometry is a useful t ool in the toxicity tests with microalgae, both marine and freshwater speci es, and for different kind of pollutants. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.