Stress responses of cyanobacteria and the pleiotropic effects of light deprivation

Biosorption of zinc from aqueous solution by cyanobacterium Fischerella ambigua ISC67: optimization, kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies

In this present study, biosorption of Zn(II) from aqueous solution by cyanobacterium Fischerella ambigua was investigated in batch experiments. The effects of pH, bacterial dosage, initial Zn(II) concentration, contact time and temperature were studied. Removal process was influenced significantly by the variation of pH, biosorbent concentration, initial Zn(II) ion concentration, temperature and contact time. Optimum biosorption conditions were found to be initial pH of 5, bacterial dosage of 0.2 g/l and initial Zn(II) ion concentration of 175 mg/l at room temperature and contact time of 90 min. The maximum uptake capacity of F. ambigua for Zn(II) ions was found to be 98.03 mg/g at optimum conditions. The correlation coefficient for the second-order kinetic model was 0.995. The Freundlich isotherm model showed better fit to the equilibrium of the system, compared with the Langmuir model. Fourier transform infrared analysis of bacterial biomass revealed the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl, sulfite and amino groups, which are likely responsible for the biosorption of Zn(II). The negative values of Gibbs free energy, ΔG°, confirm the spontaneous nature of the biosorption process. Finally, F. ambigua adsorption capacity was compared with other biosorbents. Results showed that F. ambigua was an efficient biosorbent in the removal of Zn(II) ions from an aqueous solution.

Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ Accumulation by Cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis

The Spirulina platensis biomass was characterized for its metal accumulation as a function of pH, external metal concentration, equilibrium isotherms, kinetics, effect of co-ions under free (living cells, lyophilized, and oven-dried) and immobilized (Ca-alginate and polyacrylamide gel) conditions. The maximum metal biosorption by S. platensis biomass was observed at pH 6.0 with free and immobilized biomass. The studies on equilibrium isotherm experiments showed highest maximum metal loading by living cells (181.0 +/- 13.1 mg Co(2+)/g, 272.1 +/- 29.4 mg Cu(2+)/g and 250.3 +/- 26.4 mg Zn(2+)/g) followed by lyophilized (79.7 +/- 9.6 mg Co(2+)/g, 250.0 +/- 22.4 mg Cu(2+)/g and 111.2 +/- 9.8 mg Zn(2+)/g) and oven-dried (25.9 +/- 1.9 mg Co(2+)/g, 160.0 +/- 14.2 mg Cu(2+)/g and 35.1 +/- 2.7 mg Zn(2+)/g) biomass of S. platensis on a dry weight basis. The polyacrylamide gel (PAG) immobilization of lyophilized biomass found to be superior over Ca-alginate (Ca-Alg) and did not interfere with the S. platensis biomass biosorption capacity, yielding 25% of metal loading after PAG entrapment. The time-dependent metal biosorption in both the free and immobilized form revealed existence of two phases involving an initial rapid phase (which lasted for 1-2 min) contributing 63-77% of total biosorption, followed by a slower phase that continued for 2 h. The metal elution studies conducted using various reagents showed more than 90% elution with mineral acids, calcium salts, and Na(2)EDTA with free (lyophilized or oven-dried) as well as immobilized biomass. The experiments conducted to examine the suitability of PAG-immobilized S. platensis biomass over multiple cycles of Co(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+) sorption and elution showed that the same PAG cubes can be reused for at least seven cycles with high efficiency.

Stress responses and metal tolerance of Chlamydomonas acidophila in metal-enriched lake water and artificial medium

Chlamydomonas acidophila faces high heavy-metal concentrations in acidic mining lakes, where it is a dominant phytoplankton species. To investigate the importance of metals to C. acidophila in these lakes, we examined the response of growth, photosynthesis, cell structure, heat-shock protein (Hsp) accumulation, and metal adsorption after incubation in metal-rich lake water and artificial growth medium enriched with metals (Fe, Zn). Incubation in both metal-rich lake water and medium caused large decreases in photosystem II function (though no differences among lakes), but no decrease in growth rate (except for medium + Fe). Concentrations of small Hsps were higher in algae incubated in metal-rich lake-water than in metal-enriched medium, whereas Hsp60 and Hsp70A were either less or equally expressed. Cellular Zn and Fe contents were lower, and metals adsorbed to the cell surface were higher, in lake-water-incubated algae than in medium-grown cells. The results indicate that high Zn or Fe levels are likely not the main or only contributor to the low primary production in mining lakes, and multiple adaptations of C. acidophila (e.g., high Hsp levels, decreased metal accumulation) increase its tolerance to metals and permit survival under such adverse environmental conditions. Supposedly, the main stress factor present in the lake water is an interaction between low P and high Fe concentrations.

Cu2+ Removal and recovery by Spi SORB: batch stirred and up-flow packed bed columnar reactor systems

The biosorption of Cu(2+) by free and poly acrylamide gel (PAG) immobilized Spirulina platensis (SpiSORB) was characterized under batch and continuous packed bed columnar reaction systems. The biosorption of Cu(2+) was shown to be highest at pH of 6.0 for both types of biomass. The PAG immobilization process did not interfere with the Cu(2+) binding sites present on biomass leading to cent percent (ca. 250 mg g(-1) of dry biomass) retention of biosorption as compared to free cells. Transmission electron microscopy on Cu(2+) localization revealed that majority of metal is being sequestered by the cell wall only. The infrared spectrum of metal treated S. platensis biomass indicated the possible involvement of amide, amino, and carboxyl groups in metal binding. Up-flow packed bed columnar reactor containing 2.0 g of PAG immobilized S. platensis shown a maximum of 143-fold volume reduction factor at the residence time of 4.6 min for Cu(2+) alone and found to decrease dramatically when Zn(2+ )is present in a bimetallic solution.