Spectroscopic characterization of the uptake of essential and xenobiotic metal cations in cells of the soil bacterium Azospirillum brasilense.

The results of flame (FAAS) or graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric (GFAAS) analyses are presented and discussed on the accumulation of essential metals (Mg, Ca, Mn and Fe contained in the cultivation medium) and traces of each one of the conventionally xenobiotic elements from the group V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn or Pb, added to the medium in concentrations (0.2 mM) which do not essentially suppress growth of the bacterial culture, in cells of the plant root-associated nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense. Along with the essential cations assimilated by the bacterium, Zn and Cu were found to effectively accumulate in the biomass from the environment. The uptake of Co and Ni was significantly less pronounced, whereas Pb and V appeared to be present in cells in much lower concentrations than in the cultivation medium evidently showing no tendency to be assimilated by azospirilla. The effect of the above xenobiotics on the uptake level of the four essential elements provided evidence that they may compete for the formation of biologically active complexes with substances of both intracellular and extracellular localization. The analytical data obtained are compared with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of intact vacuum-dried bacterial cells grown in a standard medium and under the conditions of an increased metal uptake.