Capo, Eric and Bravo, Andrea G. and Soerensen, Anne L. and Bertilsson, Stefan and Pinhassi, Jarone and Feng, Caiyan and Andersson, Anders F. and Buck, Moritz and Bjorn, Erik
(2020).
Deltaproteobacteria and Spirochaetes-Like Bacteria Are Abundant Putative Mercury Methylators in Oxygen-Deficient Water and Marine Particles in the Baltic Sea.
Frontiers in Microbiology. 11
, 574080
[Research article]
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Abstract
Methylmercury (MeHg), a neurotoxic compound biomagnifying in aquatic food webs, can be a threat to human health via fish consumption. However, the composition and 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 (thehgcABgene cluster). We determined the relative abundance of thehgcABgenes and their taxonomic identity in 81 brackish metagenomes that cover spatial, seasonal and redox variability in the Baltic Sea water column. ThehgcABgenes were predominantly detected in anoxic water, but somehgcABgenes were also detected 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 ofhgcABgenes 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 diversity of the microorganisms with the potential to mediate MeHg production in the Baltic Sea and pinpoint the important ecological niches for these microorganisms within the marine water column.
Authors/Creators: | Capo, Eric and Bravo, Andrea G. and Soerensen, Anne L. and Bertilsson, Stefan and Pinhassi, Jarone and Feng, Caiyan and Andersson, Anders F. and Buck, Moritz and Bjorn, Erik | ||||||
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Title: | Deltaproteobacteria and Spirochaetes-Like Bacteria Are Abundant Putative Mercury Methylators in Oxygen-Deficient Water and Marine Particles in the Baltic Sea | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Frontiers in Microbiology | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2020 | ||||||
Volume: | 11 | ||||||
Article number: | 574080 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 11 | ||||||
Publisher: | FRONTIERS MEDIA SA | ||||||
ISSN: | 1664-302X | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Microbiology (Microbiology in the medical area to be 30109) | ||||||
Keywords: | mercury methylation, hgcAB, Baltic Sea, deltaproteobacteria, spirochaetes-like bacteria | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-108387 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-108387 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 18074 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 04 Nov 2020 15:23 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2021 19:19 |
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