Adsorption and uptake of nickel by Chlamydomonas acidophilus

The interest in the study of the interactions between microorganisms and heavy metal ion species is long standing. Many algae, bacteria and fungi are known to be capable of sequestering and accumulating metal species from dilute solutions and concentrating them on or within the structure of microorganisms [1–10]. The adsorption and property of microbes is brought about by the presence of different species of functional groups on the cell surface, such as amines, carboxyl, phosphate, imidazole, hydroxyl, and sulfhydryl [3, 4, 11]. This metal—microbial complexation can be an ion-exchange process, and may be chemical or electrostatic in nature [12]. Using microbes that accumulate and concentrate heavy metals to decontaminate waste-streams emanating from mining operations, refining, electroplating and metal finishing plants may be used to control pollution and retrieve toxic metals from the environment.