Transformations of inorganic mercury by Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (USA)

OSTI ID:5544256

Yannai, S; Berdicevsky, I; Duek, L ^[1]

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1. Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans were incubated with 0.25, 0.5, or 0.75 {mu}g of Hg (as HgCl{sub 2}) per ml of Nelson's medium in the presence of trace amounts of oxygen at 28{degree}C for 12 days. Two control media were used, one without added Hg and one without yeast inoculum. Yeast cell growth was estimated after 1, 2, 3, and 8 days of incubation. The contents of organomercury in the system and of elemental mercury released from the media and collected in traps were determined at the end of the experiments. The results were as follows: (1) C. albicans was the more mercury-resistant species, but both yeast species failed to grown in the media containing 0.75 {mu}g of Hg per ml.; (2) The amounts of organomercury produced by the two species were proportional to the amount of HgCl{sub 2} added to the medium. In all cases C. albicans produced considerably larger amounts of methylmercury than S. cerevisiae; (3) The amounts of elemental Hg produced were inversely proportional to the HgCl{sub 2} level added in the case of S. cerevisiae but were all similar in the case of C. albicans;and (4) Neither organomercury nor elemental Hg was produced in any of the control media.

• OSTI ID: 5544256
• Journal Information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology; (USA), Vol. 57:1; ISSN 0099-2240
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
CANDIDA
METABOLISM
MERCURY
METHYLATION
ORGANIC MERCURY COMPOUNDS
BIOSYNTHESIS
SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELEMENTS
EUMYCOTA
FUNGI
MERCURY COMPOUNDS
METALS
MICROORGANISMS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
SACCHAROMYCES
SYNTHESIS
YEASTS
090900* - Biomass Fuels- Processing- (1990-)
540310 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- (1990-)
540210 - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)
550500 - Metabolism