Comparison of heavy metal accumulation by a bloom-forming cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa

Microcystis aeruginosa is the dominant species during cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater lakes. In the present study, we compared the bioaccumulation characteristics of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) in Microcystis cells. In short-term uptake tests, a rapid sorption of Cd and Zn occurred in the first few minutes, with a subsequent slower internalization process. No obvious difference was observed between Zn and Cd in terms of their short-term uptake kinetics. In efflux experiments, elimination of Zn from the cells was faster than that of Cd. In the 72-h exposure tests, the intracellular Cd concentrations increased with exposure time whereas the intracellular Zn concentrations always reached a plateau. The cellular Cd showed greater variation than the cellular Zn at various free Cd2+ or Zn2+ concentrations. The differences in Cd and Zn accumulation and elimination indicated that Microcystis cells had a higher bioaccumulation capacity for Cd than for Zn. In field studies, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) of Cd in lake-harvested Microcystis was more than 10 times higher than those of other metals. The results of the present study strongly suggested that the bloom-forming Microcystis may affect the Cd transportation and biogeochemical cycling in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems.