Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean
Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates from seawater to high concentrations in marine fish, putting human and ecosystem health at risk. High methylmercury levels have been found in the oxic subsurface waters of all oceans, but only anaerobic microorganisms have been shown to efficiently p...
Published in: | Environmental Microbiology Reports |
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ftunivchile:oai:repositorio.uchile.cl:2250/174719 2023-05-15T13:34:34+02:00 Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean Villar, Emilie Cabrol, Léa Heimbürger-Boavida, Lars-Eric 2020 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12829 https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/174719 en eng Wiley Environmental Microbiology Reports (Feb 2020) doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12829 https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/174719 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Chile http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/cl/ CC-BY-NC-ND Environmental Microbiology Reports Sulfate-reducing bacterium Nitrospina-like bacteria Nitrite oxidation Sp nov Hgca Expression Artículo de revista 2020 ftunivchile https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12829 2022-12-25T00:50:59Z Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates from seawater to high concentrations in marine fish, putting human and ecosystem health at risk. High methylmercury levels have been found in the oxic subsurface waters of all oceans, but only anaerobic microorganisms have been shown to efficiently produce methylmercury in anoxic environments. The microaerophilic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria Nitrospina have previously been suggested as possible mercury methylating bacteria in Antarctic sea ice. However, the microorganisms responsible for processing inorganic mercury into methylmercury in oxic seawater remain unknown. Here, we show metagenomic and metatranscriptomic evidence that the genetic potential for microbial methylmercury production is widespread in oxic seawater. We find high abundance and expression of the key mercury methylating genes hgcAB across all ocean basins, corresponding to the taxonomic relatives of known mercury methylating bacteria from Deltaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Chloroflexi. Our results identify Nitrospina as the predominant and widespread microorganism carrying and actively expressing hgcAB. The highest hgcAB abundance and expression occurs in the oxic subsurface waters of the global ocean where the highest MeHg concentrations are typically observed. Project IMPEKAB: ANR-15-CE02-0011. AXA Research Fund. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice Universidad de Chile: Repositorio académico Antarctic Environmental Microbiology Reports 12 3 277 287 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universidad de Chile: Repositorio académico |
op_collection_id |
ftunivchile |
language |
English |
topic |
Sulfate-reducing bacterium Nitrospina-like bacteria Nitrite oxidation Sp nov Hgca Expression |
spellingShingle |
Sulfate-reducing bacterium Nitrospina-like bacteria Nitrite oxidation Sp nov Hgca Expression Villar, Emilie Cabrol, Léa Heimbürger-Boavida, Lars-Eric Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
topic_facet |
Sulfate-reducing bacterium Nitrospina-like bacteria Nitrite oxidation Sp nov Hgca Expression |
description |
Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates from seawater to high concentrations in marine fish, putting human and ecosystem health at risk. High methylmercury levels have been found in the oxic subsurface waters of all oceans, but only anaerobic microorganisms have been shown to efficiently produce methylmercury in anoxic environments. The microaerophilic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria Nitrospina have previously been suggested as possible mercury methylating bacteria in Antarctic sea ice. However, the microorganisms responsible for processing inorganic mercury into methylmercury in oxic seawater remain unknown. Here, we show metagenomic and metatranscriptomic evidence that the genetic potential for microbial methylmercury production is widespread in oxic seawater. We find high abundance and expression of the key mercury methylating genes hgcAB across all ocean basins, corresponding to the taxonomic relatives of known mercury methylating bacteria from Deltaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Chloroflexi. Our results identify Nitrospina as the predominant and widespread microorganism carrying and actively expressing hgcAB. The highest hgcAB abundance and expression occurs in the oxic subsurface waters of the global ocean where the highest MeHg concentrations are typically observed. Project IMPEKAB: ANR-15-CE02-0011. AXA Research Fund. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Villar, Emilie Cabrol, Léa Heimbürger-Boavida, Lars-Eric |
author_facet |
Villar, Emilie Cabrol, Léa Heimbürger-Boavida, Lars-Eric |
author_sort |
Villar, Emilie |
title |
Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
title_short |
Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
title_full |
Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
title_fullStr |
Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
title_sort |
widespread microbial mercury methylation genes in the global ocean |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12829 https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/174719 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice |
op_source |
Environmental Microbiology Reports |
op_relation |
Environmental Microbiology Reports (Feb 2020) doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12829 https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/174719 |
op_rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Chile http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/cl/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12829 |
container_title |
Environmental Microbiology Reports |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
277 |
op_container_end_page |
287 |
_version_ |
1766054383468937216 |