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RELATIONSHIPS OF HG(II) VOLATILIZATION FROM A FRESHWATER POND TO ABUNDANCE OF MER GENES IN THE GENE POOL OF THE INDIGENOUS MICROBIAL COMMUNITY
Citation:
Barkay, T., R. Turner, A. Brook, AND C. Leibert. RELATIONSHIPS OF HG(II) VOLATILIZATION FROM A FRESHWATER POND TO ABUNDANCE OF MER GENES IN THE GENE POOL OF THE INDIGENOUS MICROBIAL COMMUNITY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-91/330 (NTIS PB92129675).
Description:
The role of biological activities in the reduction and volatilization of Hg(II) from a polluted pond was investigated. lemental mercury was evolved from pond water immediately following spiking with 203 Hg(NO3)2, whereas a lag period of 36 hr was required in control samples collected from a nearby, unpolluted, river before onset of volatilization. enes encoding the bacterial mercuric reductase enzyme (mergenes) were abundant in DNA fractions extracted from biomass of the pond microbial community, but not in samples extracted from control communities. hus, evolution of HgO was probably due to activities mediated by the bacterial mercuric reductase. f four characterized mer operons, the system encoded by transposon 501 (mer (Tn501)) dominated and likely contributed to the majority of the observed Hg(II) volatilization. hus, mer-mediated reduction and volatilization could be used to reduce Hg(II) concentrations in polluted waters, in turn decreasing rates of methylmercury formation by limiting substrate availability.
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RELATIONSHIPS OF HG(II) VOLATILIZATION FROM A FRESHWATER POND TO ABUNDANCE OF MER GENES IN THE GENE POOL OF THE INDIGENOUS MICROBIAL COMMUNITY