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Organic Copper Binding Ligands And Thiol Compounds Produced By Bacteria And In The Elizabeth River, Virginia, Christina Louise Dryden

OES Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents work focusing on copper and organic copper binding ligands in laboratory cultures and the Elizabeth River, Virginia. Laboratory cultures of the marine bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus were used to demonstrate the influence of elevated copper concentrations on copper-complexing ligand and thiol production. Copper-complexing ligands similar in binding strength to the strongest natural ligands were detected in V. parahaemolyticus cultures (log K′_CuL = 11.8–13.2). A strong correlation (r² = 0.973) was found between total thiol and copper-complexing ligand concentrations at all copper concentrations examined.

A yearlong seasonal study was undertaken in a heavily polluted estuary to ascertain …