Accumulation of Cadmium and Cobalt by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

S. cerevisiae accumulated Co2+ and Cd2+ by 2 processes: the 1st, which was metabolism-independent, was presumably cation binding to the cell surface; this was followed by metabolism-dependent, progressive uptake of relatively large amounts of the cations. Two K+ ions were released for each Co2+ ion taken up in freshly prepared cell suspensions whereas extensive loss of cell K+ followed the uptake of Cd2+. Co2+ and Cd2+ appeared to be accumulated via a general cation uptake system, with limited specificity related to the ionic radii of the cations.