TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of mercuric reductase (merA) gene diversity in an anaerobic mercury-contaminated sediment enrichment
AU - Ní Chadhain, Sinéad M.
AU - Schaefer, Jeffra K.
AU - Crane, Sharron
AU - Zylstra, Gerben J.
AU - Barkay, Tamar
PY - 2006/10
Y1 - 2006/10
N2 - The reduction of ionic mercury to elemental mercury by the mercuric reductase (MerA) enzyme plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in contaminated environments by partitioning mercury to the atmosphere. This activity, common in aerobic environments, has rarely been examined in anoxic sediments where production of highly toxic methylmercury occurs. Novel degenerate PCR primers were developed which span the known diversity of merA genes in Gram-negative bacteria and amplify a 285 bp fragment at the 3′ end of merA. These primers were used to create a clone library and to analyse merA diversity in an anaerobic sediment enrichment collected from a mercury-contaminated site in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. A total of 174 sequences were analysed, representing 71 merA phylotypes and four novel MerA clades. This first examination of merA diversity in anoxic environments suggests an untapped resource for novel merA sequences.
AB - The reduction of ionic mercury to elemental mercury by the mercuric reductase (MerA) enzyme plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in contaminated environments by partitioning mercury to the atmosphere. This activity, common in aerobic environments, has rarely been examined in anoxic sediments where production of highly toxic methylmercury occurs. Novel degenerate PCR primers were developed which span the known diversity of merA genes in Gram-negative bacteria and amplify a 285 bp fragment at the 3′ end of merA. These primers were used to create a clone library and to analyse merA diversity in an anaerobic sediment enrichment collected from a mercury-contaminated site in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. A total of 174 sequences were analysed, representing 71 merA phylotypes and four novel MerA clades. This first examination of merA diversity in anoxic environments suggests an untapped resource for novel merA sequences.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01114.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01114.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 16958755
AN - SCOPUS:33748317824
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 8
SP - 1746
EP - 1752
JO - Environmental Microbiology
JF - Environmental Microbiology
IS - 10
ER -