With the development of industry and agriculture, more and more heavy metals are released into water bodies. Today, many heavy metals constitute a global environmental hazard. Heavy metals such as copper, zinc, and nickel are essential for many physiological processes yet can be toxic at higher levels. Other metals such as cadmium, mercury and lead are nonessential and potentially highly toxic. Algae possess a range of potential cellular mechanisms that may be involved in the detoxification of heavy metals and thus tolerance to metal stress. These include roles for the following: for sequester...
