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Microalgal consortia differentially modulate progressive adsorption of hexavalent chromium

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Abstract

A set of experiments was conducted to provide significant insights of micro-algal consortia regarding chromium adsorption. Four monocultures; Scenedesmus dimorphus, Chlorella sp., Oscillatoria sp., and Lyngbya sp., and their synthetic consortia were evaluated initially for chromium bio-adsorption at four different regimes of hexavalent chromium i.e. 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 ppm. Based on findings, only 1.0 and 5.0 ppm were considered for future experiments. Consequently, three different types of monoculture and consortia cells namely; live cells, heat-killed cells, and pre-treated cells were prepared to enhance their adsorption potential. Maximal adsorption of 112% was obtained at the dose of 1.0 ppm with 0.1% SDS pre-treated consortia cells over live consortia cells. In support, atomic absorption spectroscopy, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, pulse amplitude modulated chlorophyll fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy were performed to assess the structural and functional changes within consortia and their utilization in mitigation of elevated chromium levels.

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Acknowledgements

Adinath is thankful to UGC New Delhi, India for providing him UGC-D.Phil research fellowship.

Author’s contributions

Shanthy Sundaram and Adinath designed the experiments, Adinath performed all the experiments. P K Tiwari and AK Rai helped Adinath in elemental analysis of chromium. Adi Nath and Shanthy Sundaram drafted the manuscript, Shanthy Sundaram reviewed the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Biotechnology, Nehru Science Centre, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211002, India

    Adi Nath & Shanthy Sundaram

  2. Laser Spectroscopy Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India

    Pravin Kumar tiwari & Awadhesh Kumar Rai

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  1. Adi Nath
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  2. Pravin Kumar tiwari
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  3. Awadhesh Kumar Rai
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  4. Shanthy Sundaram
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Correspondence to Shanthy Sundaram.

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Nath, A., tiwari, P.K., Rai, A.K. et al. Microalgal consortia differentially modulate progressive adsorption of hexavalent chromium. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 23, 269–280 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0415-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0415-1

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