Abolishing cadmium toxicity in Chlorella vulgaris by ascorbic acid, calcium, glucose and reduced glutathione

Addition of ascorbic acid, calcium (Ca2+), glucose and reduced glutathione (GSH) to the cadmium (Cd2+)-amended Kuhl medium significantly accelerated the growth and chlorophyll content of Chlorella vulgaris. This enhancement was found to be dose dependent. Their relative effectiveness against Cd2+ on growth and chlorophyll content has been arranged as GSH > Ca2+ > glucose > ascorbic acid. However, Ca2+ offered more protection against Cd2+ toxicity on protein contents, followed by ascorbic acid, GSH and glucose. The different concentrations of all amelioratives completely alleviated the toxicity of Cd2+ on total carbohydrates to exceed the control level. Photosynthetic oxygen evolution showed more response to Ca2+ and glucose in alleviating Cd2+ toxicity. On the other hand, at certain concentrations, GSH, Ca2+, ascorbic acid and glucose stimulated respiratory oxygen uptake over the control level. The uptake of Cd2+ dropped significantly in cultures supplemented with 20 μM ascorbic acid, glucose and GSH, while Ca2+ (30 μM) significantly lowered the Cd2+ uptake by 58% indicating that Ca2+ had a more antagonistic effect against Cd2+.