Comparison of organics and heavy metals acute toxicities to Vibrio fischeri

Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition has been widely used to test acute toxicities of metals and organics contaminants. However, the differences of metals and organics acute toxicities to V. fischeri have not been compared. Here, four heavy metals (Zn2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Cr6+) and five organics (phenol, benzoic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, nitro-benzene and benzene) acute toxicities to V. fischeri were investigated. Heavy metals toxicities to V. fischeri were increased along with the reaction time, while the organics toxicities kept the same level in different reaction times. In order to explain the difference, the relative cell death rate of V. fischeri was detected. In metals toxicities tests, the bioluminescence inhibition rate of V. fischeri was found to be significantly higher than the relative cell death rate (P