A
concentration-dependent increase in the surface binding of
both Pb and Cd was observed to reach a maximum level
(275 and 250 μg mg−1 protein, respectively) at 100 μg mL−1
concentration of each metal. The results on intracellular uptake
of metals showed that uptake of Pb (14 μgmg−1 protein) by N.
muscorum cells was slightly higher than that of Cd
(11 μg mg−1 protein) at their respective uptake rate saturating
concentrations (60 and 80 μg mL−1, respectively). The result
revealed that the surface-bound fraction of each metal was
about 20 times higher than the intracellular fraction.