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Abstract
Two strains of a fungus, Cladosporium cladosporioides 1 and C. cladosporioides 2 showed
different metal biosorption properties. Strain 1 showed preferential sorption of gold
and silver, while strain 2 could bind metals such as copper and cadmium in addition
to gold and silver. Strain 1 had a cell-wall hexosamine content of 0.1%. X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses indicated
that nitrogen was not involved in metal biosorption by the strain. In strain 2 the
cell-wall hexosamine content was 150 times that of strain 1. These results indicated
that hexosamine was responsible for non-specific metal binding while cell-wall polymers
other than hexosamines had a role in conferring selectivity in precious-metal binding.