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.

doi:10.1002/lno.11310

Title: Distribution of mercury-cycling genes in the Arctic and equatorial Pacific Oceans and their relationship to mercury speciation

Journal Article · 26 August 2019 · Limnology and Oceanography

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11310 · OSTI ID:1607015

^[1]; Collins, Eric ^[2]; Agather, Alison ^[3]; Lamborg, Carl ^[1]; Hammerschmidt, Chad ^[3]; Kaul, Drishti ^[4]; Dupont, Christopher ^[4];

^[5];

^[5]

Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
Wright State Univ., Dayton, OH (United States)
J. Craig Venter Inst., La Jolla, CA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

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.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; OCE-1434650; 1434653; 1534315

OSTI ID:: 1607015

Journal Information:: Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 65, Issue S1; ISSN 0024-3590

Publisher:: Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography - WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 31 works

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
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