Mechanisms of uranium mineralization by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We determined the association of uranium in yeast cells S. cerevisiae grown in medium containing high (1 g · L^-1) or low (0.2 g · L^-1) concentrations of phosphate after exposure for 96 h to a 4 × 10^-4 mol · L^-1 U(VI) solution at pH 3.2 or 4.7. The analysis was made using a field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and visible diffuse reflectance spectrometry. Cells grown in the high-phosphate medium rapidly accumulated U(VI) from solution at pH 3.2 over the first 24 h, followed by a slow uptake until 96 h, whereas in cells grown in low-phosphate medium, U(VI) accumulation reached a steady state within 24 h. FESEM-EDS analyses revealed the formation of a U(VI)-bearing precipitate on the yeast cells grown in high-phosphate medium after only 48 h exposure; no precipitate was detected on cells grown in low-phosphate medium up to 96 h. These results suggest that sorption onto the cell surfaces was the dominant process initially. Analysis of the U(VI)-bearing precipitates by all three methods demonstrated the presence of H-autunite, HUO₂PO₄ · 4H₂O. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that the chemical compositions of the solutions containing yeast grown in high-phosphate medium were undersaturated with respect to H-autunite, but were supersaturated with ten times more U(VI) and P than were actually observed. Apparently, the sorbed U(VI) on the cell surfaces reacts with P released from the yeast to form H-autunite by local saturation. The U(VI) uptake by yeast cells grown in high phosphate medium at pH 4.7, along with the thermodynamic calculation, indicated that more H-autunite is precipitated in neutral pH solution than in acid solution. Thus, U(VI)-phosphate mineralization on the cells of microorganisms should be taken into account for predicting U(VI) mobility in the environment.