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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1978 February; 35(2): 323-328
Copyright © 1978 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls on Growth and Respiration of Heterotrophic Marine Bacteria

Richard P. Blakemore and Anne E. Carey

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

ABSTRACT

A number of marine bacterial isolates from both near-shore and open-ocean environments were tested for growth inhibition with exposure to low concentrations (1 to 100 µg/liter) of Aroclor 1254, a commercial mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Of over 17 bacterial cultures tested, growth of only two open-ocean isolates, one a pseudomonad and the other a tetrad-forming coccus, was consistently inhibited by Aroclor at concentrations as low as 10 µg/liter (10 ppb). Growth inhibition was dose dependent over a concentration range of 10 to 100 µg/liter. The effects upon division rates and final cell yields of each bacterial isolate were greatest when PCBs were added to cultures with low cell densities or with lower specific growth rates. The pseudomonad also had reduced carotenoid levels and an altered filamentous morphology with Aroclor present at a concentration of 10 µg/liter, or more. The effects noted were reversible for at least 18 h after initial exposure. Concentrations of Aroclor in excess of those needed to stop growth had no detectable effect upon the respiration rate of cells of either culture. This suggests that the reduced division rates observed were not due to inability of PCB-treated cells to transport or catabolize the carbohydrate or amino acid substrates tested.

Present address: Department of Microbiology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824.

Contribution no. 4052 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.