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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 August; 50(2): 498-502
Copyright © 1985, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria: Principal Methylators of Mercury in Anoxic Estuarine Sediment {dagger}

G. C. Compeau and R. Bartha*

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

ABSTRACT

Substrate-electron acceptor combinations and specific metabolic inhibitors were applied to anoxic saltmarsh sediment spiked with mercuric ions (Hg2+) in an effort to identify, by a direct approach, the microorganisms responsible for the synthesis of hazardous monomethylmercury. 2-Bromoethane sulfonate (30 mM), a specific inhibitor of methanogens, increased monomethylmercury synthesis, whereas sodium molybdate (20 mM), a specific inhibitor of sulfate reducers, decreased Hg2+ methylation by more than 95%. Anaerobic enrichment and isolation procedures yielded a Desulfovibrio desulfuricans culture that vigorously methylated Hg2+ in culture solution and also in samples of presterilized sediment. The Hg2+ methylation activity of sulfate reducers is fully expressed only when sulfate is limiting and fermentable organic substrates are available. To date, sulfate reducers have not been suspected of Hg2+ methylation. Identification of these bacteria as the principal methylators of Hg2+ in anoxic sediments raises questions about the environmental relevance of previous pure culture-based methylation work.

FOOTNOTES

* Corresponding author.

{dagger} New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station publication no. D-1408-3-85.

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 August; 50(2): 498-502
Copyright © 1985, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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