A review on advantages of implementing luminescence inhibition test (Vibrio fischeri) for acute toxicity prediction of chemicals.

Evaluation of biological effects using a rapid, sensitive and cost effective method can indicate specific information on toxicity/ecotoxicity. Since assays based on animals, plants and algae are expensive, time consuming and require large sample volume, recent studies have emphasized the benefits of rapid, reproducible and cost effective bacterial assays for toxicity screening and assessment. This review focuses on a bacterial assay, i.e., Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition assay, which is often chosen as the first test in a test battery based on speed and cost consideration. The test protocol is simple and was originally applied for aqueous phase samples or extracts. The versatility of the assay has increased with subsequent modification, i.e., the kinetic assay for turbid and colored samples and the solid phase test for analyzing sediment toxicity. Researchers have reported the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence assay as the most sensitive across a wide range of chemicals compared to other bacterial assays such as nitrification inhibition, respirometry, ATP luminescence and enzyme inhibition. This assay shows good correlations with other standard acute toxicity assays and is reported to detect toxicity across a wide spectrum of toxicants.

[1]  D. Barceló,et al.  Bioluminescence inhibition assays for toxicity screening of wood extractives and biocides in paper mill process waters , 2004, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[2]  R. Braun,et al.  Toxicity testing of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using Lumistox® , 2004, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[3]  T. Young,et al.  Effect of soil contaminant extraction method in determining toxicity using the microtox® assay , 2000 .

[4]  Blahoslav Maršálek,et al.  Evaluation of alternative and standard toxicity assays for screening of environmental samples: Selection of an optimal test battery , 1998 .

[5]  J. W. Hastings,et al.  Two active forms of the accessory yellow fluorescence protein of the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri strain Y1 , 1993 .

[6]  T. Campisi,et al.  Optimisation of a microbial bioassay for contaminated soil monitoring: bacterial inoculum standardisation and comparison with Microtox assay. , 2003, Chemosphere.

[7]  Thorsten Reemtsma,et al.  Industrial wastewater analysis : a toxicity-directed approach , 1999 .

[8]  R. Guerra,et al.  Ecotoxicological and chemical evaluation of phenolic compounds in industrial effluents. , 2001, Chemosphere.

[9]  K. Killham,et al.  Toxicity assessment of xenobiotic contaminated groundwater using lux modified Pseudomonas fluorescens. , 1997, Chemosphere.

[10]  K. Vaajasaari,et al.  A new flash method for measuring the toxicity of solid and colored samples , 1999 .

[11]  W. Slooff,et al.  The Microtox as an alternative assay in the acute toxicity assessment of water pollutants , 1983 .

[12]  D. Barceló,et al.  Toxicity testing of wastewater and sewage sludge by biosensors, bioassays and chemical analysis , 2003 .

[13]  A. Kahru,et al.  Toxicity of phenolic wastewater to luminescent bacteria photobacterium phosphoreum and activated sludges , 1996 .

[14]  M. Bahadir,et al.  Biological monitoring of landfill leachate using plants and luminescent bacteria , 1994 .

[15]  E. Long,et al.  Rapid toxicity assessment of sediments from estuarine ecosystems: A new tandem in vitro testing approach , 1998 .

[16]  K. Kaiser,et al.  Correlations of Vibrio fischeri bacteria test data with bioassay data for other organisms. , 1998, Environmental health perspectives.

[17]  B. McConkey,et al.  Measurement of short- and long-term toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using luminescent bacteria. , 2002, Ecotoxicology and environmental safety.

[18]  J. Etxebarria,et al.  A comparison of five rapid direct toxicity assessment methods to determine toxicity of pollutants to activated sludge. , 2002, Chemosphere.

[19]  A. Holland,et al.  Interpretation of Microtox® solid‐phase toxicity tests: The effects of sediment composition , 1997 .

[20]  B. Pavoni,et al.  Sediment toxicity measured using Vibrio fischeri as related to the concentrations of organic (PCBs, PAHs) and inorganic (metals, sulphur) pollutants , 1998 .

[21]  A. Kahru,et al.  Study of toxicity of pesticides using luminescent bacteria , 1996 .

[22]  E. Papathanassiou,et al.  Assessing the quality of marine coastal environments: comparison of scope for growth and Microtox bioassay results of pollution gradient areas in eastern Mediterranean (Greece). , 2002, Environmental pollution.

[23]  J. Lappalainen,et al.  Automated color correction method for Vibrio fischeri toxicity test. Comparison of standard and kinetic assays. , 2001, Chemosphere.

[24]  Antonius Kettrup,et al.  Toxicity evaluation of reactive dyestuffs, auxiliaries and selected effluents in textile finishing industry to luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri. , 2002, Chemosphere.

[25]  S. Inouye.  NAD(P)H‐flavin oxidoreductase from the bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio fischeri ATCC 7744, is a flavoprotein , 1994, FEBS letters.