Bond, Peter, Brown, Murray, Moate, Roy, Gledhill, Martha , Hill, Stephen and Nimmo, Malcolm (1999) Arrested development in Fucus spiralis (Phaeophyceae) germlings exposed to copper. European Journal of Phycology, 34 (5). pp. 513-521. DOI 10.1080/09541449910001718871.

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Abstract

Exposure of Fucus spiralis germlings to precise copper concentrations (0 to 844 nM Cu2+) in chemically defined medium demonstrated a relationship between urltrastructural changes and growth retardation with increasing copper concentration. Electron-translucent vesicles, present in ova, which normally disappear after fertilization, accumulated in germlings exposed to Cu2+ above 10.6 nM, suggesting that copper may inhibit a metabolic pathway involved in cell wall formation which is initiated by fertilization No membrane damage was observed during the exposure period. During a post-exposure period in copper-free medium, recovery occurred (rhizoid extension, apical hair formation) in germlings previously exposed to concentrations below 106 nM Cu2+ and electron-translucent vesicles became granular and disappeared. It is proposed that the electron-translucent vesicles contain a cell wall precursor and that copper inhibits its incorporation into the cell wall, preventing growth and development of the zygote.

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