Uptake of heavy metals by Stylonychia mytilus and its possible use in decontamination of industrial wastewater
2008
Rehman, A | Shakoori, Farah R | Shakoori, A. R
The heavy metal resistant ciliate, Stylonychia mytilus, isolated from industrial wastewater has been shown to be potential bioremediator of contaminated wastewater. The ciliate showed tolerance against Zn²⁺ (30 μg/mL), Hg²⁺ (16 μg/mL) and Ni²⁺ (16 μg/mL). The metal ions slowed down the growth of the ciliate as compared with the culture grown without metal stress. The reduction in cell population was 46% for Cd²⁺, 38% for Hg²⁺, 23% for Zn²⁺, 39% for Cu²⁺ and 51% for Ni²⁺ after 8 days of metal stress. S. mytilus reduced 91% of Cd²⁺, 90% of Hg²⁺ and 98% of Zn²⁺ from the medium after 96 h of incubation in a culture medium containing 10 μg/mL of the respective metal ions. Besides this, the ciliate could also remove 88% of Cu²⁺ and 73% Ni²⁺ from the medium containing 5 μg/mL of each metal after 96 h. The ability of Stylonychia to take up variety of heavy metals from the medium could be exploited for metal detoxification and environmental clean-up operations.
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