To determine the isotherms of the adsorption of cadmium for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, acetate and sulphate salts were used at the concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 mg.L-1. The biomass was produced from a starter culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae IZ 1904. After the contact of 16 hours among the microrganism study and the solution-test, the biomass was separated by a centrifugation and the cadmium residue content was determined directly in the supernatant by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. For the two salts which were used, a growing accumulation of cadmium was observed at concentrations of 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg.L-1. In the concentrations of 60; 80 and 100 mg.L-1 a decrease in the accumulation of the metal was observed, showing damage to the cellular wall, not always observed at the membrane citoplasmatic's level, visualized by a scanning electron microscopy.
yeast; cadmium; heavy metal; adsorption; isotherm
