Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation
Humans are exposed to potentially harmful amounts of the neurotoxin monomethylmercury (MMHg) through consumption of marine fish and mammals. However, the pathways of MMHg production and bioaccumulation in the ocean remain elusive. In anaerobic environments, inorganic mercury (Hg) can be methylated t...
Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607015 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1607015 https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 |
id |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1607015 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1607015 2023-07-30T04:01:07+02:00 Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation Bowman, Katlin Collins, Eric Agather, Alison Lamborg, Carl Hammerschmidt, Chad Kaul, Drishti Dupont, Christopher Christensen, Geoffrey A. Elias, Dwayne A. 2021-10-28 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607015 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1607015 https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607015 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1607015 https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 doi:10.1002/lno.11310 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 37 INORGANIC ORGANIC PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 2021 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 2023-07-11T09:40:48Z Humans are exposed to potentially harmful amounts of the neurotoxin monomethylmercury (MMHg) through consumption of marine fish and mammals. However, the pathways of MMHg production and bioaccumulation in the ocean remain elusive. In anaerobic environments, inorganic mercury (Hg) can be methylated to MMHg through an enzymatic pathway involving the hgcAB gene cluster. Recently, hgcA-like genes have been discovered in oxygenated marine water, suggesting the hgcAB methylation pathway, or a close analog, may also be relevant in the ocean. Using polymerase chain reaction amplification and shotgun metagenomics, we searched for but did not find the hgcAB gene cluster in Arctic Ocean seawater. However, we detected Hg-cycling genes from the mer operon (including organomercury lyase, merB), and hgcA-like paralogs (i.e., cdhD) in Arctic Ocean metagenomes. Finally, our analysis of Hg biogeochemistry and marine microbial genomics suggests that various microorganisms and metabolisms, and not just the hgcAB pathway, are important for Hg methylation in the ocean. Other/Unknown Material Arctic Arctic Ocean SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific Limnology and Oceanography 65 S1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 37 INORGANIC ORGANIC PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY |
spellingShingle |
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 37 INORGANIC ORGANIC PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY Bowman, Katlin Collins, Eric Agather, Alison Lamborg, Carl Hammerschmidt, Chad Kaul, Drishti Dupont, Christopher Christensen, Geoffrey A. Elias, Dwayne A. Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
topic_facet |
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 37 INORGANIC ORGANIC PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY |
description |
Humans are exposed to potentially harmful amounts of the neurotoxin monomethylmercury (MMHg) through consumption of marine fish and mammals. However, the pathways of MMHg production and bioaccumulation in the ocean remain elusive. In anaerobic environments, inorganic mercury (Hg) can be methylated to MMHg through an enzymatic pathway involving the hgcAB gene cluster. Recently, hgcA-like genes have been discovered in oxygenated marine water, suggesting the hgcAB methylation pathway, or a close analog, may also be relevant in the ocean. Using polymerase chain reaction amplification and shotgun metagenomics, we searched for but did not find the hgcAB gene cluster in Arctic Ocean seawater. However, we detected Hg-cycling genes from the mer operon (including organomercury lyase, merB), and hgcA-like paralogs (i.e., cdhD) in Arctic Ocean metagenomes. Finally, our analysis of Hg biogeochemistry and marine microbial genomics suggests that various microorganisms and metabolisms, and not just the hgcAB pathway, are important for Hg methylation in the ocean. |
author |
Bowman, Katlin Collins, Eric Agather, Alison Lamborg, Carl Hammerschmidt, Chad Kaul, Drishti Dupont, Christopher Christensen, Geoffrey A. Elias, Dwayne A. |
author_facet |
Bowman, Katlin Collins, Eric Agather, Alison Lamborg, Carl Hammerschmidt, Chad Kaul, Drishti Dupont, Christopher Christensen, Geoffrey A. Elias, Dwayne A. |
author_sort |
Bowman, Katlin |
title |
Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
title_short |
Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
title_full |
Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
title_fullStr |
Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
title_sort |
distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the arctic and equatorial pacific oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607015 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1607015 https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607015 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1607015 https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 doi:10.1002/lno.11310 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 |
container_title |
Limnology and Oceanography |
container_volume |
65 |
container_issue |
S1 |
_version_ |
1772811868213084160 |