Responses of Xanthoria parietina thalli to environmentally relevant concentrations of hexavalent chromium

Thalli of the lichen Xanthoria parietina ( L.) Th. Fr. were soaked for either 24 or 48 h in a buffered medium in the presence of environmentally relevant concentrations (4.8 and 9.6 muM) of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]. Treatment effects on the antioxidant status, differential distribution and fate of Cr( VI) among the mycobiont and the photobiont cells, and potential damage to cell ultrastructure in the two bionts, were evaluated. The adopted conditions of low Cr( VI) stress caused: (i) an increase in the level of ascorbic acid and a decrease in that of reduced glutathione, as well as a moderate increase in guaiacol peroxidase activity, only observed after treatment with 9.6 muM Cr(VI); (ii) no changes in malondialdehyde content; (iii) a remarkable Cr accumulation in the mycobiont cytosol and compartmentalisation in the mycobiont vacuoles; (iv) a modest apoplastic Cr immobilisation by the outer part of the cell walls, of both the mycobiont and the photobiont. The response of X. parietina to low concentrations of Cr( VI) appears to be a complex phenomenon, which might reflect maintenance of cellular homeostatic equilibria, rather than specific response pathways.