Antimony toxicity in the lichen Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr.

- The lichen Xanthoria parietina was affected by treatments with Sb-containing solutions.
- Total and intracellular Sb content increased with increasing Sb treatment.
- Sb caused reduced sample viability, cell membrane damage and ultrastructural changes.

In this paper we tested if treating the lichen Xanthoria parietina with Sb-containing solutions causes Sb bioaccumulation as well as physiological and ultrastructural changes. Total and intracellular antimony content in Sb-treated samples increased progressively with increasing concentration in the treatment solutions. Incubation of X. parietina thalli with Sb at concentrations as low as 0.1 mM caused a decrease in sample viability, measured as intensity of respiratory activity, and damage to cell membranes, expressed in terms of membrane lipid peroxidation, as well as ultrastructural changes such as plasmolysis, impairment of the thylakoid system of the alga and cytoplasmic lipid droplets. The photosynthetic system hardly responded, at least under the tested experimental conditions.