Microbes in mercury-enriched geothermal springs in western North America

dc.contributor.authorGeesey, Gill G.
dc.contributor.authorBarkay, Tamar
dc.contributor.authorKing, Sue
dc.date.accessioned2016-12-23T20:18:39Z
dc.date.available2016-12-23T20:18:39Z
dc.date.issued2016-11
dc.description.abstractBecause geothermal environments contain mercury (Hg) from natural sources, microorganisms that evolved in these systems have likely adapted to this element. Knowledge of the interactions between microorganisms and Hg in geothermal systems may assist in understanding the long-term evolution of microbial adaptation to Hg with relevance to other environments where Hg is introduced from anthropogenic sources. A number of microbiological studies with supporting geochemistry have been conducted in geothermal systems across western North America. Approximately 1 in 5 study sites include measurements of Hg. Of all prokaryotic taxa reported across sites with microbiological and accompanying physicochemical data, 42% have been detected at sites in which Hg was measured. Genes specifying Hg reduction and detoxification by microorganisms were detected in a number of hot springs across the region. Archaeal-like sequences, representing two crenarchaeal orders and one order each of the Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota, dominated in metagenomes' MerA (the mercuric reductase protein) inventories, while bacterial homologs were mostly found in one deeply sequenced metagenome. MerA homologs were more frequently found in metagenomes of microbial communities in acidic springs than in circumneutral or high pH geothermal systems, possibly reflecting higher bioavailability of Hg under acidic conditions. MerA homologs were found in hot springs prokaryotic isolates affiliated with Bacteria and Archaea taxa. Acidic sites with high Hg concentrations contain more of Archaea than Bacteria taxa, while the reverse appears to be the case in circumneutral and high pH sites with high Hg concentrations. However, MerA was detected in only a small fraction of the Archaea and Bacteria taxa inhabiting sites containing Hg. Nevertheless, the presence of MerA homologs and their distribution patterns in systems, in which Hg has yet to be measured, demonstrates the potential for detoxification by Hg reduction in these geothermal systems, particularly the low pH springs that are dominated by Archaea.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGeesey GG, Barkay T, King S “Microbes in mercury-enriched geothermal springs in western North America,” Sci Total Environ, 2016 Nov 1; 569–570:321–331.en_US
dc.identifier.issn0048-9697
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/12399
dc.titleMicrobes in mercury-enriched geothermal springs in western North Americaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
mus.citation.extentfirstpage321en_US
mus.citation.extentlastpage331en_US
mus.citation.journaltitleScience of The Total Environmenten_US
mus.citation.volume569-570en_US
mus.data.thumbpage8en_US
mus.identifier.categoryChemical & Material Sciencesen_US
mus.identifier.categoryEngineering & Computer Scienceen_US
mus.identifier.categoryLife Sciences & Earth Sciencesen_US
mus.identifier.doi10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.080en_US
mus.relation.collegeCollege of Agricultureen_US
mus.relation.collegeCollege of Engineeringen_US
mus.relation.collegeCollege of Letters & Scienceen_US
mus.relation.departmentCenter for Biofilm Engineering.en_US
mus.relation.departmentChemical & Biological Engineering.en_US
mus.relation.departmentMicrobiology & Immunology.en_US
mus.relation.researchgroupCenter for Biofilm Engineering.en_US
mus.relation.universityMontana State University - Bozemanen_US

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