Precipitation of cadmium by Clostridium thermoaceticum

Cadmium at an initial concentration of 1 mM was completely precipitated by cultures of Clostridium thermoaceticum in complex medium. The precipitation was energy dependent and required cysteine, although cysteine alone did not act as a growth substrate. Electron microscopic analysis revealed localized areas of precipitation at the surfaces of nonstarved cells as well as precipitate in the surrounding medium. The addition of cadmium had no apparent effect on growth or acetogenesis. However, nickel and cadmium were synergistically toxic at a concentration (1 mM) at which neither alone was toxic. The amount of protein extracted from cadmium-treated cultures was twofold higher than that in control extracts, and the amount of total sulfide was fourfold higher in cultures containing cadmium than in control cultures. Comparable levels of cysteine desulfhydrase activity were observed in extracts of both cadmium-treated and control cultures, but the enzyme activity was expressed maximally about 24 h earlier in the cadmium-treated cultures than in the untreated controls.