Heavy metal tolerance and removal efficiency of the Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Saccharomyces boulardii planktonic cells and biofilm

The impact of heavy metals, cadmium (Cd2+), zinc (Zn2+) and nickel (Ni2+) on planktonic cells and biofilm of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Saccharomyces boulardii was examined. The metal tolerance testing was performed by MBECTM-HTP assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MICp) and minimum lethal concentration (MLCp) were determined as well as the minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC). Biofilm was more tolerant on the presence of heavy metals than the planktonic cells. The planktonic cells of R. mucilaginosa were tolerant to high concentrations of Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+, while the planktonic cells of S. boulardii tolerated Zn2+, exclusively. The R. mucilaginosa biofilm was tolerant to all of the tested metal concentrations and the obtained results were confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. S. boulardii did not show ability of biofilm formation. Metal removal efficiency of the R. mucilaginosa planktonic cells and biofilm were also tested. The R. mucilaginosa biofilm showed higher efficiency in metals removing compared to the planktonic cells. Until now, the heavy metal tolerance and the removal efficiency (Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+) analyzes were performed solely on planktonic cells of Rhodotorula species. In this study, we investigated the metal removal efficiency of R. mucilaginosa planktonic cells and biofilm and compared the obtained results.