Correlation of two bioluminescence and one fluorogenic bioassay for the detection of toxic chemicals.

The linear correlation between the EC50 values of 50 substances obtained in luminescence bioassays using Vibrio fischeri and Vibrio harveyi and in a fluorogenic bioassay using Escherichia coli was investigated. As a result, a significant correlation was found between the said values in all three toxicity tests. The bioassay using V. harveyi had a sensitivity similar to that of the fluorogenic bioassay, and the bioassay using V. fischeri was the least sensitive of all. The sensitivity of the three bioassays for each of the tested substances, chiefly heavy metals, organic solvents, orgnochlorated compounds, and pesticides, differed in the majority of the cases. The three bioassays were quantified using the same laboratory apparatus and the data were processed in the same way. The possibility of designing a battery of toxicity tests that can be performed using the same apparatus but different organisms and parameters is discussed.