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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1974 May; 27(5): 870-873
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Reduction of Mercury to the Elemental State by a Yeast

Department of Limnology, Stroud Water Research Center, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

ABSTRACT

A yeast of the genus Cryptococcus has been isolated from a stream and was shown to be capable of reducing mercury to the elemental state. The organism grows in Wickerham broth supplemented with high concentrations of mercury (II) chloride (180 mg of mercury per liter) and will metabolize [¹⁴C]glucose in this medium as do cells in the absence of mercury. Mercury was associated with the cell wall and membrane, and in vacuoles within the cytoplasm.