Sorption of metals by Chlorobium spp.

The capacity of two species of green phototrophic sulfur bacteria, Chlorobium limicola and C. phaeobacteroides, to sorb several metal ions (Mn2+, Fe2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+) has been tested in laboratory batch cultures at increasing concentrations up to 2,000 mumol/l. Except for nickel--which was not sorbed to bacterial cells--the rest of metals tested were bound in a fast and passive process, which was mathematically described by means of Freundlich isotherms models. The sorption capacity of the two species studied were found to be dependent on the metal involved, whereas no differences were observed in the sorption intensity, suggesting that in all cases the sorption process proceeds in a similar way. Further, the comparison of the sorption intensity values as well as the metal recovery index (Ri), for both species, revealed that C. phaeobacteroides was more efficient that C. limicola to attach metal ions. The ecological significance of this ability in the water column of some stratified lakes, where coinciding maxima of ferrous iron and green photosynthetic sulfur bacteria are frequently found, is discussed.