Exploiting the Potential in Water Cleanup from Metals and Nutrients of Desmodesmus sp. and Ampelodesmos mauritanicus

Abstract

Increasing levels of freshwater contaminants, mainly due to anthropogenic activities, have resulted in a great deal of interest in finding new eco-friendly, cost-effective and efficient methods for remediating polluted waters. The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of using a green microalga Desmodesmus sp., a cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. and a hemicryptophyte Ampelodesmos mauritanicus to bioremediate a water polluted with an excess of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and heavy metals (copper and nickel). We immediately determined that Nostoc sp. was sensitive to metal toxicity, and thus Desmodesmus sp. was chosen for sequential tests with A. mauritanicus. First, A. mauritanicus plants were grown in the ‘polluted’ culture medium for seven days and were, then, substituted by Desmodesmus sp. for a further seven days (14 days in total). Heavy metals were shown to negatively affect both the growth rates and nutrient removal capacity. The sequential approach resulted in high metal removal rates in the single metal solutions up to 74% for Cu and 85% for Ni, while, in the bi-metal solutions, the removal rates were lower and showed a bias for Cu uptake. Single species controls showed better outcomes; however, further studies are necessary to investigate the behavior of new species.

Water‐soluble intracellular extract of Desmodesmus sp. YT enhanced the antioxidant capacity of human skin fibroblast to protect the skin from UV damage

“…14 Previous studies have shown that Desmodesmus sp. can be used to remove heavy metals 15 and tetracyclines 16 from wastewater, but there are still few reports on its antioxidant capacity.…”

Integrated Omics Approach to Discover Differences in the Metabolism of a New Tibetan Desmodesmus sp. in Two Types of Sewage Treatments

“…were used to treat single-metal solution wastewater in a sequential approach, and the Cu and Ni removal rates reached up to 74% and 85%, indicating that Desmodesmus sp. has a better sewage treatment capacity when used in combination with other organisms [ 19 ]. When comparing the removal effects of Chlorella vulgaris, Botryococcus Braunii and Desmodesmus sp.…”

Water-soluble intracellular extract of Desmodesmus sp.YT enhanced the antioxidant capacity of human skin fibroblast to protect the skin from UV damage

“…Previous studies have shown that Desmodesmus sp. can be used to remove heavy metals [15] and tetracyclines [16] from wastewater, but there are still few reports on its antioxidant capacity.…”