Anthropogenic pressure in the high altitude lakes such as Titicaca and Uru (Bolivia) may favor the production of methylmercury (MeHg) known to accumulate in trophic chains. Periphyton associated with emerged aquatic plants (totoras) from the lake shores accumulates and demethylates MeHg providing a potential cost-effective water treatment technique. In this laboratory study, we measured the MeHg uptake kinetics of a consortium of green algae isolated from Lake Titicaca totora's periphyton. The most abundant algal consortium, composed of Oedogonium spp., Chlorella spp., Scenedesmus spp., was exposed to rising MeHg concentrations (from 5 to 200 ng·L⁻¹) to assess their maximum potential capacity for MeHg accumulation. Various algal biomass concentrations were tested to choose the optimal one. Results provided a net MeHg uptake rate by this algal consortium of 2.38 amol ng⁻¹·h⁻¹·nM⁻¹ (the total uptake was 2863 ng MeHg·g⁻¹) for an initial concentration of 200 ng MeHg·L⁻¹ with an algal biomass concentration of 0.02 g·L⁻¹. This initial MeHg concentration is 1000 times higher than the one measured in the eutrophic Cohana Bay of Lake Titicaca, which shows the high accumulation potential of these green algae. Our data suggest that periphyton has a high potential for the treatment of Hg contaminated waters in constructing wetlands in the Andean Altiplano.

喀喀湖和乌鲁（玻利维亚）等高海拔湖泊的人为压力可能有利于甲基汞（MeHg）的产生，已知该甲基汞在营养链中积累。与湖岸新兴水生植物（香蒲）相关的附生植物会积聚甲基汞并使甲基汞脱甲基，从而提供一种潜在的具有成本效益的水处理技术。在这项实验室研究中，我们测量了从喀喀湖tortora附生植物中分离出的绿藻财团的MeHg吸收动力学。最丰富的藻类财团，由大毛虫属组成。，小球藻属。，Scenedesmus spp。，暴露于不断升高的MeHg浓度（从5到200 ng·L ^-1），以评估其最大的甲基汞积累潜力。测试了各种藻类生物质浓度以选择最佳浓度。结果显示，初始浓度为200 ng MeHg·L ^-1时，该藻类联盟的净MeHg吸收率为2.38 amol ng ^-1 ·h ^-1 ·nM ^-1（总吸收为2863 ng MeHg·g ^-1）。藻类生物质浓度为0.02 g·L ^-1。MeHg的初始浓度比喀喀湖富营养化的Cohana湾中测量的浓度高1000倍，这表明这些绿藻具有很高的蓄积潜力。我们的数据表明，在安第斯高原上的湿地建设中，附生植物在处理汞污染水方面具有很高的潜力。