Impact of antimony on some physiological aspects of phormidium fragile; interaction with bivalent cations

ABSTRACT

The response of cyanobacterium, Phormidium fragile, to different concentrations of antimony and its interaction with calcium and/or cadmium had been studied. The results demonstrated that algal dry weight gain was stimulated by low doses application. Algal protein content, chlorophyll a and carotenoids significantly decreased with an increasing antimony concentration. On the other hand, antimony uptake increased with an increasing metal concentration in the external medium. The presence of calcium and cadmium in the antimony media lowered dry biomass gain and protein content. On the other hand, the combination of the three metals favored a better accumulation of pigments and greater metal uptake, especially at larger than lower dose of antimony. The effects of different concentrations of antimony as well as the interactive effects of calcium and/or cadmium on the contents and composition of the amino acids of the cyanobacterium were also discussed