Effect of heavy metal ions on microorganism aging

Abstract It is known that the presence of copper in the marine mycete Corollospora maritima culture medium enhances growth and lipofuscin production. The latter is a fluorescent pigment known as ‘age pigment’. It appeared that the determination of lipofuscin, both by the thiobarbituric acid test and by measuring the fluorescence on extract in chloroform/methanol, could serve as a marker of the presence and the level of copper pollution of sea environments. In addition to copper, almost all other transition metals contain unpaired electrons and can thus qualify as radicals. The results of this study show that all the transition metals induce lipofuscinogenesis in Corollospora maritima . Lipofuscin could be an indicator of environmental contamination by these metals.