In the presence of fluoride, free Sc³⁺ is not a good predictor of Sc bioaccumulation by two unicellular algae: possible role of fluoro-complexes

Acute toxicity of cerium to neonatal Daphnia magna: Responses of antioxidant systems, influence of environmental factors and development of a biotic ligand model

The bioavailability of cerium (Ce) and its toxic effects on aquatic organisms are still unclear, which limits the toxicity prediction and pollution control for this element. Here, the acute toxicity of Ce to Daphnia magna neonates and the responses of the antioxidant system were investigated, and the quantitative relationships between the toxicity of Ce and environmental factors were determined. The 24 and 48 h EC50Ce-D values based on the dissolved concentration of Ce in Daphnia magna were 60.6 and 10.9 μM, respectively, and the EC50Ce3+ values were 23.4 and 3.73 μM, respectively. After Ce exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.5-3.5 μM), significant increases in superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde content were observed in Daphnia magna, while significant decreases in catalase activity and H2O2 content occurred. Low levels of Ce cause oxidative damage to Daphnia magna and adverse impacts on the antioxidant system; however, further molecular-based studies are needed. The addition of Ca2+ or Na+ reduced the acute toxicity of Ce to Daphnia magna. In contrast, Mg2+ (MgSO4) promoted Ce toxicity, which is a new finding related to the interaction effects between cations and rare earth elements on biological ligands; however, the effects of SO42+ could not be distinguished. Complexation with organic ligands could significantly reduce the toxicity of Ce to Daphnia magna; however, complexes of Ce with citric acid and malic acid might be bioavailable to Daphnia magna. In the absence of organic ligands and competing metals, the binding constant of Ce3+ to Daphnia magna at toxic concentrations was 5.83. The log K values for the competitive effects of Ca2+ and Na+ were 3.73 and 2.59, respectively, while the log K value for the protective effect of fulvic acid was 3.76. These results contribute to understanding the toxicity of Ce and will help predict the toxicity of Ce in freshwater.

Fate, subcellular distribution and biological effects of rare earth elements in a freshwater bivalve under complex exposure

Rare earth elements (REE) are emerging contaminants due to their increased use in diverse applications including cutting-edge and green-technologies. Their environmental concerns and contradicting results concerning their biological effects require an extensive understanding of REE ecotoxicology. Thus, we have studied the fate, bioaccumulation and biological effects of three representative REE, neodymium (Nd), gadolinium (Gd) and ytterbium (Yb), individually and in mixture, using the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea. The organisms were exposed for 96 h at 1 mg L-1 REE in the absence and presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) reproducing an environmental contamination. Combined analysis of the fate, distribution and effects of REE at tissue and subcellular levels allowed a comprehensive understanding of their behaviour, which would help improving their environmental risk assessment. The bivalves accumulated significant concentrations of Nd, Gd and Yb, which were decreased in the presence of DOM likely due to the formation of REE-DOM complexes that reduced REE bioavailability. The accumulation of Nd, Gd and Yb differed between tissues, with gills > digestive gland ≥ rest of soft tissues > hemolymph. In the gills and in the digestive gland, Nd, Gd and Yb were mostly (>90 %) distributed among metal sensitive organelles, cellular debris and detoxified metal-rich granules. Gadolinium, Yb and especially Nd decreased lysosome size in the digestive gland and disturbed osmo- and iono-regulation of C. fluminea by decreasing Na concentrations in the hemolymph and Ca2+ ATPase activity in the gills. Individual and mixed Nd, Gd and Yb exhibited numerous similarities and some differences in terms of fate, accumulation and biological effects, possibly because they have common abiotic and biotic ligands but different affinities for the latter. In most cases, individual and mixed effects of Nd, Gd, Yb were similar suggesting that additivity approach is suitable for the environmental risk assessment of REE mixtures.

Multilayer adsorption of lead (Pb) and fulvic acid by Chlorella pyrenoidosa: Mechanism and impact of environmental factors

When the multilayer adsorption of lead (Pb) and fulvic acid (FA) occurs on algal surface, the adsorption capacity of Pb on the algae will increase dramatically, thus increasing the environmental risk of Pb. However, the corresponding mechanism and the influence of environmental factors on the multilayer adsorption remain unclear. Here, microscopic observation methods and batch adsorption experiments were exactly designed to investigate the adsorption behavior of multilayer adsorption of Pb and FA on algal surface. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that carboxyl groups were the major functional groups responsible for the binding of Pb ions in multilayer adsorption, and its number was more than that in monolayer adsorption. The solution pH, with an optimal pH of 7, was a critical factor influencing the occurrence of multilayer adsorption because it influences the protonation of the involved functional groups and determines the concentration of Pb²⁺ and Pb-FA in the solution. Increasing the temperature was beneficial for multilayer adsorption, with ΔH for Pb and FA varied from +17.12 to +47.68 kJ/mol and +16.19 to +57.74 kJ/mol, respectively. The multilayer adsorption of Pb and FA onto algal surface also followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model, but was extremely slower than the monolayer adsorption of Pb and FA by 30 times and 15 orders of magnitude, respectively. Therefore, the adsorption of Pb and FA in the ternary system had a different adsorption behavior than that in the binary system, which verified the presence of multilayer adsorption of Pb and FA and further support the multilayer adsorption mechanism. This work is important to provide data support for water ecological risk prevention and control of heavy metals.

Water quality criteria for lanthanum for freshwater aquatic organisms derived via species sensitivity distributions and interspecies correlation estimation models

The increasing exploitation and application of rare earth elements (REEs) may induce hazardous risks to freshwater aquatic organisms. Due to the lack of water quality criteria (WQC) and sufficient reliable toxicity data, little information is available on the ecological risk of REEs in surface water. In this study, lanthanum (La) toxicity data were collected from published toxicological studies, and the data quality was assessed using a toxicological data reliability assessment tool. To obtain more toxicity data, Daphnia magna, Cyprinus carpio, and Dania rerio embryos were selected as surrogate species, and an interspecies correlation estimation (ICE) model was used to predict the toxicity of La for untested species. The species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) of La toxicity and WQC were investigated. Differences were observed in the hazardous concentrations for 5% of species (HC₅), but no statistically significant differences were noted in the SSD curves between the measured acute toxicity data and the predicted data. For the SSDs constructed from the measured toxicity data, the ICE-predicted toxicity data and all acute data supplemented with the ICE-predicted data, the acute WQC values of La were 88, 1022 and 256 μg/L, respectively. According to the SSD and corresponding HC₅ of chronic toxicity data, the chronic WQC was 14 μg/L. The results provide a scientific reference for establishing WQC for freshwater aquatic organisms and ecological risk assessments of REEs.

Scandium-microorganism interactions in new biotechnologies

Scandium (Sc) plays a special role in high-tech industries because of its wide application in green, space, and defense technologies. However, Sc mining and purification are problematic due to political, technological, and environmental difficulties. The deficit of this element limits global technological development. One sustainable solution to this problem is to use microorganisms to extract Sc from ore and waste, as well as to concentrate and separate it from other elements. Sc also demonstrates attractive metabolic effects on microbes that is of great interest in white biotechnology. Sc increases the production of proteins and secondary metabolites and activates poorly expressed genes. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of current knowledge on the application of Sc-microorganism interactions in promising biotechnologies, its perspectives, and future challenges.

Bioavailability and phytotoxicity of rare earth metals to Triticum aestivum under various exposure scenarios

It is a daunting challenge to predict toxicity and accumulation of rare earth metals (REMs) in different exposure scenarios (e.g., varying water chemistry and metal combinations). Herein, we investigated the toxicity and uptake of La and Ce in the presence of various levels of Ca, Mg, Na, K, and at different pH values, as well as the combined effects of La and Ce in wheat Triticum aestivum. Major cations (Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺) significantly mitigated the toxicity and accumulation of La³⁺/Ce³⁺. Toxicity and uptake of La, Ce, and La-Ce mixtures could be well quantified by the multi-metal biotic ligand model (BLM) and by the Langmuir-type uptake model with the consideration of the competitive effects of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, with more than 85.1% of variations explained. The derived binding constants of Ca, Mg, La, and Ce to wheat root were respectively 3.87, 3.59, 6.97, and 6.48 on the basis of toxicity data, and 3.23, 2.84, 6.07, and 5.27 on the basis of uptake data. The use of the alternative WHAM-F_tox approach, requiring fewer model parameters than the BLM but with similar Akaike information criterion (AIC) values, successfully predicted the toxicity and accumulation of La/Ce as well as toxicity of La-Ce mixtures, with at least 76.4% of variations explained. However, caution should be taken when using this approach to explain the uptake of La-Ce mixtures. Our results provided promising tools for delineating REMs toxicity/uptake in the presence of other toxicity-modifying factors or in mixture scenarios.

Coherent toxicity prediction framework for deciphering the joint effects of rare earth metals (La and Ce) under varied levels of calcium and NTA

With the development of modern technologies, the exploitation and application of rare earth metals (REMs) have increased parallelly. Consequently, more REMs are entering into the environment and therefore there is a pressing need to assess their potential environmental hazards. Here, a standard toxicity test with wheat (Triticum aestivum) was conducted to investigate the single and mixture toxicity of La and Ce in solutions with different levels of calcium and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and results were deciphered by different modeling approaches. Both La and Ce caused adverse effect to wheat, but the presence of Ca and NTA alleviated their toxicity. The obtained EC₅₀ for [La] or [Ce] changed by more than 28-fold and by 4-fold, respectively, with the increase of Ca or NTA. The biotic ligand model (BLM) explained approximately 93% variation of single La or Ce toxicity. The binding constants obtained were 4.14, 6.67, and 6.59 for logK_CaBL, logK_LaBL, and logK_CeBL respectively. The electrostatic toxicity model (ETM) was proved as effective as the BLM, with R² = 0.93 for La and R² = 0.92 for Ce. For La-Ce mixtures, parameters from single toxicity approaches were applied successfully to predict the mixture toxicity with concentration addition (CA) model based on the BLM or ETM theory (R² = 0.92 and RMSE = 8.56; R² = 0.90 and RMSE = 9.6, respectively). Thus, the results obtained in this study prove that both ETM and BLM theories are appropriate to predict single and mixture REMs toxicity, providing coherent and promising tools for the risk assessment of REM pollution.

Unravelling Metal Speciation in the Microenvironment Surrounding Phytoplankton Cells to Improve Predictions of Metal Bioavailability

A lack of knowledge on metal speciation in the microenvironment surrounding phytoplankton cells (i.e., the phycosphere) represents an impediment to accurately predicting metal bioavailability. Phycosphere pH and O₂ concentrations from a diversity of algae species were compiled. For marine algae in the light, the average increases were 0.32 pH units and 0.17 mM O₂ in the phycosphere, whereas in the dark the average decreases were 0.10 pH units and 0.03 mM O₂, in comparison to bulk seawater. In freshwater algae, the phycosphere pH increased by 1.28 units, whereas O₂ increased by 0.38 mM in the light. Equilibrium modeling showed that the pH alteration influenced the chemical species distribution (i.e., free ion, inorganic complexes, and organic complexes) of Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sc, Sm, and Zn in the phycosphere, and the O₂ fluctuation increased oxidation rates of Cu(I), Fe(II) and Mn(II) from 2 to 938-fold. The pH/O₂-induced changes in phycosphere metal chemistry were larger for freshwater algae than for marine species. Reanalyses of algal metal uptake data in the literature showed that uptake of the trivalent metals (Sc, Sm and Fe), in addition to divalent metals, can be better predicted after considering the phycosphere chemistry.

Role of pH on indium bioaccumulation by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

For divalent metals, the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) has been proven to be an effective tool to predict biological effects by taking into account speciation calculations and competitive interactions. Nonetheless, the BLM has only rarely been validated for trivalent metals (e.g. rare earth elements), and the potential competitive effects of protons has been understudied. In this paper, the short-term biouptake of indium (In), a trivalent metal that is a byproduct of zinc extraction and used in numerous applications including the semiconductor industry, was evaluated under controlled conditions. Short-term (i.e. 60 min) indium biouptake by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was measured as a function of pH in order to verify the validity of the BLM. At a given pH, In biouptake could be well described by the Michaelis-Menten equation with conditional stability constants of K_In,pH=4.0 = 10^6.7 M^-1, K_In,pH=5.0 = 10^8.6 M^-1, K_In,pH=6.0 = 10^9.3 M^-1 and maximum internalization fluxes of J_{max, pH=4.0} = 0.74 × 10^-14 mol cm^-2 s^-1, J_{max, pH=5.0} = 1.60 × 10^-14 mol cm^-2 s^-1, J_{max, pH=6.0} = 2.22 × 10^-14 mol cm^-2 s^-1. Although several potential mechanisms for the role of pH were examined, the results were best explained by a competitive interaction of H⁺ with the In uptake sites using overall stability constants of logK_In = 9.76 M^-1 and logK_H = 15.66 M^-1. Based on these results, pH will play a critical role in bioavailability measurements of the trivalent cations in natural waters.

Uptake and subcellular distribution of aluminum in a marine diatom

Aluminum (Al) is widespread in the environment including the ocean. The effects of Al on marine organisms have attracted more and more attention in recent years. However, the mechanisms of uptake of Al by marine organisms and the subcellular distribution of Al once assimilated are unknown. Here we report the uptake and subcellular distribution of Al in a marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. Short-term (< 120 min) uptake experiments showed that the Al uptake rate by the diatom was 0.033 ± 0.013 fmol^-1 cell^-1 min^-1 (internalization flux normalized to the exposure Al concentration of 2 µM = 0.034 ± 0.013 nmol m^-2 min^-1 nM^-1). Subcellular fractionation experiments showed that the internalized Al was partitioned to subcellular components in the following order: granules (69 ± 5%) > debris (17 ± 4%) > organelles (12 ± 2%) > heat-stable peptides (HSP) (~2%) > heat-denaturable proteins (HDP) (< 1%), indicating that the majority of intracellular Al was detoxified and stored in inorganic forms. The subcellular distribution of Al in the diatom is different from that of Al in freshwater green algae, in which most of the internalized Al is partitioned to organelles. We also evaluated an artificial seawater-based EDTA rinse solution to remove Al adsorbed on the diatom cell surface. Overall, our study provides new information to understand the mechanisms of uptake of Al by marine diatoms, and the mechanisms responsible for the biological effects (both toxic and beneficial) of Al on the growth of marine phytoplankton, especially diatoms.

Biouptake of a rare earth metal (Nd) by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii - Bioavailability of small organic complexes and role of hardness ions

A green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, was used to verify whether a simple Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) could be used to predict carefully controlled short-term biouptake for the lanthanide, Nd. In the absence of ligands or competitors, Nd biouptake was well described by a Michaelis-Menten equation with an affinity constant, K_Nd, of 10^6.8 M^-1 and a maximum internalization flux of J_max = 1.70 × 10^-14 mol cm^-2 s^-1. For bi-metal mixtures containing Nd and Ca, Mg, Sm or Eu, Nd uptake could also be well modelled by assigning experimentally determined affinity constants of K_Ca = 10^2.6 M^-1, K_Mg = 10^3.4 M^-1, K_Sm = 10^6.5 M^-1 and K_Eu = 10^6.5 M^-1. The similar values of K_m and J_max for the three rare earth elements (REEs): Sm, Eu and Nd is consistent with them sharing a common metal uptake site. On the other hand, in the presence of the small organic ligands (citric or malic acid), neither, free or total Nd concentrations could be used to quantitatively predict Nd internalization fluxes. In other words, in order to predict biouptake by simple BLM determinations, it was necessary to consider that the Nd complexes were bioavailable. The data strongly suggest that risk evaluations of the REE will require a new paradigm and new tools for evaluating bioavailability.

Uptake and effects of cerium(III) and cerium oxide nanoparticles to Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Cerium (Ce) and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NP) are increasingly used in different applications. Upon their release into the aquatic environment, the exposure of aquatic organisms becomes likely. In this study, the uptake of CeO₂ NP and Ce³⁺ into the wild type and cell wall free mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was examined upon short term exposure. Separation of CeO₂ NP and Ce³⁺ not taken up or loosely bound to the cells was performed by washing algae with EDTA. Despite a concentration and time dependent increase of cellular Ce upon exposure to CeO₂ NP with the maximal calculated Ce concentration corresponding to 1.1 CeO₂ NP per cell, an internalization of CeO₂ NP with a mean size of 140 nm in C. reinhardtii was excluded. In contrast, dissolved Ce³⁺ (1 and 10 μM) was taken up both in the wild type and cell wall free mutant of C. reinhardtii, with a linear increase of cellular Ce within 1-2 h and maximal cellular Ce of 6.04 × 10^-4 mol L_cell^-1 (wild type) and 9.0 × 10^-5 mol L_cell^-1 (cell wall free mutant). Based on competition with Ca²⁺ for Ce³⁺ uptake, on the comparison of the wild type and the cell wall free mutant and on inhibition of photosynthetic yield, we suggest that no efficient uptake routes for Ce³⁺ are available in C. reinhardtii and that a fraction of the cellular Ce in the wild type strongly sorbs to the algal cell wall.

Biotic ligand model does not predict the bioavailability of rare Earth elements in the presence of organic ligands

Due to their distinct physicochemical properties, rare earth elements (REEs) are critical to high-tech and clean-energy industries; however, their bioavailability is still largely unexplored. In this paper, the bioavailability of several REEs has been carefully examined for the freshwater alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In the presence of organic ligands (L), the biouptake of REEs was much higher than that predicted by the biotic ligand model (BLM). Enhancement of the biouptake flux was observed for six ligands (metal = thulium) and six REEs (ligand = citric acid), indicating that this could be a common feature for these metals. In order to explore the mechanism for the enhanced uptake, Tm internalization was carefully evaluated. The Tm internalization flux (Jint) followed first-order (Michaelis-Menten) kinetics with a calculated maximum internalization flux (Jmax) of (1.1 ± 0.08) × 10(-14) mol · cm(-2) · s(-1) and an affinity constant for the reaction of the metal with the transport sites (KTm-R) of 10(7.1) M(-1). In the presence of citric acid, malic acid, or NTA, the Jint for Tm was more than 1 order of magnitude higher than that predicted by the BLM when algae were exposed to a constant 10(-9) M Tm(3+). The bioavailability of the metal complexes could not be explained by a piggyback internalization (through an anion channel) or the contribution of labile complexes. The enhanced biouptake was attributed to the formation of a ternary Tm complex {L-Tm-R} at the metal transport site. In the natural environment where organic ligands are ubiquitous, classic models are unlikely to predict the bioavailability of REEs to aquatic organisms.