Manganese is a contaminant of the manufacturing and agricultural industries and can accumulate in natural water sources, leading to neurological, cardiac, and reproductive diseases in humans and other higher organisms. However, manganese is also an essential element for plants and animals as it is a common protein cofactor as well as an important component for bone mineralization. It is especially vital for plants as it is a component of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II, the only known natural catalyst capable of splitting water and the source of all atmospheric oxygen. Chlorella vulgaris is a unicellular green alga that can grow in harsh conditions including high concentrations of manganese. In this study, C. vulgaris was exposed to high concentrations of manganese and the rate of manganese uptake was correlated with light, nitrate, and nutritional availability. Cells were grown in various conditions and monitored for intracellular and membrane-bound manganese using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Additionally, the terminal biochemical composition was monitored in order to determine the effect of changing conditions on the overall cellular metabolism. Based on these results, C. vulgaris is may be optimized to be a low-cost, non-toxic species for use in phycoremediation of natural water sources.

Characterization of manganese uptake in Chlorella vulgaris

2019 Fall National Meeting

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