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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01602-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Mercury Methylation by Dissimilatory Iron-Reducing Bacteria

Univ. Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, MD, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, Univ. Wisconsin, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Madison, WI, Univ. California, Dept. Plant and Microbial Ecology, Berkeley, CA, Univ. Connecticut, Dept. Marine Sciences, Groton, CT

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: gilmourc{at}si.edu,

	Abstract

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 above abiotic controls under similar culture conditions. Geobacter and Desulfuromonas are closely related to known Hg-methylating sulfate-reducing bacteria within the Deltaproteobacteria.