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Deltaproteobacteria andSpirochaetes-Like Bacteria AreAbundant Putative MercuryMethylators in Oxygen-DeficientWater and Marine Particles in theBaltic Sea
Umeå University, Department of Chemistry.
Institut de Ciències del Mar.
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Environmental research and monitoring.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8490-8600
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment.
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2020 (English)In: Frontiers in Microbiology, E-ISSN 1664-302X, p. 1-11, article id 574080Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Methylmercury (MeHg), a neurotoxic compound biomagnifying in aquatic food webs, can be a threat to human health via fish consumption. However, the compositionand distribution of the microbial communities mediating the methylation of mercury (Hg) to MeHg in marine systems remain largely unknown. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we used the Baltic Sea Reference Metagenome (BARM) dataset to study the abundance and distribution of the genes involved in Hg methylation (the hgcAB gene cluster). We determined the relative abundance of the hgcAB genes and their taxonomic identity in 81 brackish metagenomes that cover spatial,seasonal and redox variability in the Baltic Sea water column. The hgcAB genes were predominantly detected in anoxic water, but some hgcAB genes were alsodetected in hypoxic and normoxic waters. Phylogenetic analysis identified putative Hg methylators within Deltaproteobacteria, in oxygen-deficient water layers, but also Spirochaetes-like and Kiritimatiellaeota-like bacteria. Higher relative quantities of hgcAB genes were found in metagenomes from marine particles compared to free-living communities in anoxic water, suggesting that such particles are hotspot habitats for Hg methylators in oxygen-depleted seawater. Altogether, our work unveils the diversityof the microorganisms with the potential to mediate MeHg production in the BalticSea and pinpoint the important ecological niches for these microorganisms within themarine water column.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2020. p. 1-11, article id 574080
Keywords [en]
Mercury, Baltic Sea, Bacteria, Methylation, Oxygen deficiency, particles
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Man and the environment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-3803DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.574080OAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-3803DiVA, id: diva2:1469504
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2018-01031Available from: 2020-09-22 Created: 2020-09-22 Last updated: 2024-01-17Bibliographically approved

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