Abstract
IN experiments of short duration, the respiration of many micro-organisms is diminished only a little, if at all, by cyanide or by fluoride at concentrations which inhibit the main respiratory system of higher animals. I have used a strain of Chlorella vulgaris in which the respiration is insensitive to fluoride, cyanide and (in aerobic conditions) copper ions, but when suitable amounts of copper sulphate and sodium fluoride are added simultaneously to a cell suspension, oxygen uptake almost ceases. No similar effect has been seen when other metals are substituted for copper, or when most other anions are substituted for fluoride. Cyanide and iodide are exceptions, but both of these interact with cupric copper. The addition of citrate, to avoid possible precipitation of sparingly soluble basic copper fluoride, does not make copper sulphate or sodium fluoride more toxic when these are added to cells singly, nor does it reduce the inhibition of respiration which occurs when they are applied simultaneously (Fig. 1).
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HASSALL, K. Inhibition of Respiration of Chlorella vulgaris by Simultaneous Application of Cupric and Fluoride Ions. Nature 215, 521 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/215521a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/215521a0
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