MONITORING THE CELLULAR-RESPONSE OF STICHOCOCCUS-BACILLARIS TO EXPOSURE OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT METALS USING IN-VIVO P-31-NMR AND OTHER SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES

The cellular response of a green algae, Stichococcus bacillaris, to su dden exposure of Zn2+, Mn2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+ was investigated. The alga e adsorbed these metal cations on the cell wall initially, and the ads orption equilibrium was established within 3 min. Later, some of the a dsorbed metals were either transported inside the algae or released in to the solution. The transport of metals inside the algae was demonstr ated by their interaction with intracellular polyphosphate. The releas e of the adsorbed metals into solution is probably the result of detox ification actions. The interaction of copper with algae was found to b e unique in many ways. For instance, Cu2+ was adsorbed more efficientl y than the other metals investigated. The algae detoxification process for copper involved the intervention by both polyphosphate and protei n from the algae. At high copper/algae ratio, the algae cells were lys ed and unable to excrete the toxic metal.