Biosorption of Zinc and Nickel and Its Effect on Growth of Different Spirulina Strains

Abstract

AbstractBiosorption of two chosen heavy metals viz. zinc and nickel were tested with selected strains of Spirulina namely S. indica, S. maxima, and S. platensis under laboratory conditions. The selected cyanobacterial strains were cultured in Zarrouk medium treated with zinc and nickel ions at varying concentrations (0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 mM). Biosorption ability of the selected cyanobacterial strains were evaluated in terms of doubling time, chlorophyll content (Chl A, Chl C) and protein content. Data depict that growth was significantly affected by the concentration of selected metals in the culture medium. At a concentration of 0.1 mM, growth of the strains exhibited poor growth due to heavy metal stress. Maximum growth was exhibited by S. maxima at 0.01 mM zinc (6.9 mg/L) and 0.01 mM nickel (17 mg/L). Results indicate that S. maxima can be used as a potential candidate for bioremediation of the major pollutants (zinc and nickel) in the tannery effluent.