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PROTONEMA OF THE MOSS FUNARIA HYGROMETRICA CAN FUNCTION AS A LEAD (PB) ADSORBENT
Itouga, M., M. Hayatsu, M. Sato, Y. Tsuboi, Y. Kato, K. Toyooka, S. Suzuki, S. Nakatsuka, et al.
PLOS One 12(12):0189726(2017)

Phytoremediation and biosorbent filtration have been investigated for recovering heavy metals for recycling and mitigating metals toxicity. The filamentous protonemal cells of the moss Funaria hygrometrica can hyperaccumulate Pb up to 74% of their dry weight when exposed to solutions containing divalent Pb. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that Pb is localized to the cell walls, endoplasmic reticulum-like membrane structures, and chloroplast thylakoids, suggesting that multiple Pb retention mechanisms are operating in living F. hygrometrica. The main Pb-accumulating compartment was the cell wall, and prepared cell-wall fractions could also adsorb Pb. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that polysaccharides composed of polygalacturonic acid and cellulose probably serve as the most effective Pb-binding components. The adsorption abilities were retained throughout a wide range of pH values, and bound Pb was not desorbed under conditions of high ionic strength. The moss is also highly Pb tolerant. This paper is Open Access at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189726.



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