Toxicity and bioaccumulation kinetics of arsenate in two freshwater green algae under different phosphate regimes

In the present study, the toxicity and bioaccumulation kinetics of arsenate in two green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Scenedesmus obliquus under phosphate-enriched (+P) and limited (-P) conditions were investigated. P-limitation was found to aggravate arsenate toxicity and S. obliquus was more tolerant than C. reinhardtii. Such phosphate-condition-dependent or algal-species-specific toxicity difference was narrowed when the relative inhibition of cell growth was plotted against intracellular arsenate content instead of its extracellular concentration. The discrepance was further reduced when the intracellular ratio of arsenic to phosphorus was applied. It suggests that both arsenate bioaccumulation and intracellular phosphorus played an important role in arsenate toxicity. On the other hand, arsenate uptake was induced by P-limitation and its variation with ambient arsenate concentration could be well fitted to the Michaelis-Menten model. Arsenate transporters of S. obliquus were found to have a higher affinity but lower capacity than those of C. reinhardtii, which explains its better regulation of arsenate accumulation than the latter species in the toxicity experiment. Further, arsenate depuration was facilitated and more was transformed to arsenite in C. reinhardtii or under -P condition. Intracellular proportion of arsenite was also increased after the algae were transferred from the long-term uptake media to a relatively clean solution in the efflux experiment. Both phenomena imply that algae especially the sensitive species could make physiological adjustments to alleviate the adverse effects of arsenate. Overall, our findings will facilitate the application of algae in arsenate remediation.