Microbial methylation, which converts the inorganic mercury (Hg) to bioaccumulative neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg), is of great importance to the fate and toxicity of Hg in natural systems. Geobacter bemidjensis, an iron-reducing bacterium, has recently been identified as a strong Hg methylator, capable of converting &gt;80% of the inorganic Hg to MeHg in laboratory incubation studies, although its methylation efficiency under different environmental conditions remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the production of MeHg by G. bemidjensis and found that the methylation efficiency varied greatly with biogeochemical conditions including the energy source, competing metal ions, and naturally dissolved organic matter (DOM). Our findings provide improved understanding of the environmental factors affecting microbial Hg methylation and highlight the need to consider MeHg production under complex environmental matrixes.

Environmental factors affect production of methylmercury by Geobacter bemidjensis

249th National Meeting (2015)

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