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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2002, p. 5741-5745, Vol. 68, No. 11
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.11.5741-5745.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mercury Methylation by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132 in the Presence of Polysulfides

Jenny Ayla Jay,1* Karen J. Murray,1 Cynthia C. Gilmour,2 Robert P. Mason,3 François M. M. Morel,4 A. Lynn Roberts,5 and Harold F. Hemond1

The Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139,1 The Academy of Natural Sciences, Estuarine Research Center, Saint Leonard, Maryland 20685,2 Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland 20688,3 Department of Geology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544,4 Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 212185

Received 25 March 2002/ Accepted 26 August 2002

The extracellular speciation of mercury may control bacterial uptake and methylation. Mercury-polysulfide complexes have recently been shown to be prevalent in sulfidic waters containing zero-valent sulfur. Despite substantial increases in total dissolved mercury concentration, methylation rates in cultures of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132 equilibrated with cinnabar did not increase in the presence of polysulfides, as expected due to the large size and charged nature of most of the complexes. In natural waters not at saturation with cinnabar, mercury-polysulfide complexes would be expected to shift the speciation of mercury from HgS0(aq) toward charged complexes, thereby decreasing methylation rates.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, 5732 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563. Phone: (617) 970-4198. Fax: (310) 206-2222. E-mail: jennyayla{at}alum.mit.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2002, p. 5741-5745, Vol. 68, No. 11
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.11.5741-5745.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fleming, E. J., Mack, E. E., Green, P. G., Nelson, D. C. (2006). Mercury Methylation from Unexpected Sources: Molybdate-Inhibited Freshwater Sediments and an Iron-Reducing Bacterium. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 457-464 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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