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SHORT REPORT

Mercury Methylation by Dissimilatory Iron-Reducing Bacteria

University of Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland,¹ Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland,² University of Wisconsin, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Madison, Wisconsin,³ University of California, Department of Plant and Microbial Ecology, Berkeley, California,⁴ University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences, Groton, Connecticut⁵

Received 11 July 2006/ Accepted 9 October 2006

The Hg-methylating ability of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria in the genera Geobacter, Desulfuromonas, and Shewanella was examined. All of the Geobacter and Desulfuromonas strains tested methylated mercury while reducing Fe(III), nitrate, or fumarate. In contrast, none of the Shewanella strains produced methylmercury at higher levels than abiotic controls under similar culture conditions. Geobacter and Desulfuromonas are closely related to known Hg-methylating sulfate-reducing bacteria within the Deltaproteobacteria.

Published ahead of print on 20 October 2006.