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The Strategies Microalgae Adopt to Counteract the Toxic Effect of Heavy Metals

Summary

Microalgae can help clean water polluted with toxic heavy metals like cadmium and chromium while also producing useful biomass. The review explains how microalgae absorb and trap heavy metals, and describes ways to make them more effective, including adding certain chemicals, selecting resilient strains, and using genetic modification. Combining heavy metal removal with biomass production could make the process cost-effective for real-world applications.

Background

Heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, and mercury persist in environments with high toxicity and bioaccumulative potential. Microalgae have been utilized for wastewater treatment and biomass production, but high heavy metal concentrations significantly inhibit algal growth. This review examines mechanisms and strategies to enhance microalgal resistance to heavy metals while achieving simultaneous biomass production.

Objective

To comprehensively review mechanisms for heavy metal removal by microalgae and summarize biochemical, genetic, and strain selection strategies to promote microalgal resistance to heavy metals. The review also addresses immobilization methods and coupled systems for simultaneous heavy metal bioremediation and biomass production.

Results

Microalgae remove heavy metals through biosorption and bioaccumulation mechanisms involving cell wall adsorption, extracellular polymeric substances, and intracellular detoxification. Exogenous additives like sulfates and nitric oxide donors enhance tolerance and lipid production. Genetic modification and strain selection significantly improve heavy metal removal efficiency, particularly for acid-tolerant strains at low pH conditions.

Conclusion

Coupling algal growth with bioremediation is cost-effective for simultaneous heavy metal removal and biomass production. While major breakthroughs have been achieved with genetic modification, strain selection, and immobilization techniques, development of low-cost immobilization materials and continuous large-scale coupled systems remains necessary for economic feasibility and commercialization.
  • Published in:Microorganisms,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: PMID: 40431162, DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms13050989
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