Cadmium uptake by a green alga can be predicted by equilibrium modelling

Short-term uptake of cadmium by a wild-type (2137) and a cell wall-less strain (CW-2) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was examined as a function of Cd speciation in a well-defined, aqueous medium. Internalization fluxes were determined for free cadmium concentrations ranging from 5 x 10(-10) M to 5 x 10(-4) M in the presence of ligands forming both labile and inert hydrophilic complexes. A first-order biological internalization, as predicted by the free ion activity model (FIAM), was observed for both strains. The maximum Cd internalization flux, J(max), for the wild-type strain was 5-fold higher (1.3 x 10(-11) Mol CM-2 min(-1)) than for the CW-2 strain (2.3 x 10(-12) Mol CM-2 min(-1)) and was not influenced by the presence of competitors such as Ca in the experimental solution. The conditional stability constant for the adsorption of Cd to transport sites of the CW-2 strain was 5-fold higher (10(6.7) M-1)than for the wildtype strain (106 M-1). Competition experiments demonstrated that Mo, Mn, Cu, Co, Zn, Ni, Ca, and Pb inhibited, at least partially, Cd uptake, while no inhibition was observed for similar concentrations of Mg and Fe. The stability constant for the competitive binding of Ca to the Cd transport site was determined to be 10(4.5) M-1. Cu and Zn competed with Cd uptake sites with stability constants of 10(5.6) and 10(5.2) M-1, respectively. Protons also appeared to compete with Cd uptake sites as uptake could generally be predicted quantitatively in their presence. Finally, in the presence of low concentrations (< 20 mg L-1) of Suwannee River fulvic acid, Cd internalization fluxes could be predicted from [Cd2+], in accordance with the FIAM.