Abstract
Even though water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes is considered a troublesome aquatic weed, it has the ability to remove toxic heavy metals from aqueous systems. Plants were collected from the Nile River, and isolation and purification of the cadmium-binding protein were carried out. The major portion of Cd was found in cell-free extracts in the soluble fraction. Fractionation of the Cd-binding protein corresponded to the peak of activity of glutamate dehydrogenase. The overall data suggested that the formation of Cd-protein complexes may be the mechanism by which water hyacinth plants tolerate and accumulate Cd from polluted water.