Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH), is one of the major environmental pollutants that causes mutagenesis
and cancer. BaP has been shown to accumulate in phytoplankton and
zooplankton. We have studied the localization and aggregation of BaP
in Chlorella sp., a microalga that
is one of the primary producers in the food chain, using fluorescence
confocal microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy with
the phasor approach to characterize the location and the aggregation
of BaP in the cell. Our results show that BaP accumulates in the lipid
bodies of Chlorella sp. and that there
is Förster resonance energy transfer between BaP and photosystems
of Chlorella sp., indicating the close
proximity of the two molecular systems. The lifetime of BaP fluorescence
was measured to be 14 ns in N,N-dimethylformamide,
an average of 7 ns in Bold’s basal medium, and 8 ns in Chlorella cells. Number and brightness analysis suggests
that BaP does not aggregate inside Chlorella sp. (average brightness = 5.330), while it aggregates in the supernatant.
In Chlorella grown in sediments spiked
with BaP, in 12 h the BaP uptake could be visualized using fluorescence
microscopy.