Inorganic phosphate accumulation and cadmium detoxification in Klebsiella aerogenes NCTC 418 growing in continuous culture.

Klebsiella aerogenes NCTC 418, growing in the presence of cadmium under glucose-, sulfate-, or phosphate-limited conditions in continuous culture, exhibits two different cadmium detoxifying mechanisms. In addition to sulfide formation, increased accumulation of Pi is demonstrated as a novel mechanism. Intracellular cadmium is always quantitatively counterbalanced by a concerted increase in both inorganic sulfide and Pi contents of the cells. This led to the conclusion that production of sulfide and accumulation of Pi are detoxification mechanisms present in K. aerogenes but that their relative importance is crucially dependent on the strain and the growth conditions employed.