{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T04:49:12Z","timestamp":1792212552945,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,3,29]],"date-time":"2018-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1522281600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,3,29]],"date-time":"2018-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1522281600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/www.springer.com\/tdm"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Exposure to dietary sources of methylmercury (MeHg) is the focus of public health concerns with environmental mercury (Hg) contamination. MeHg is formed in anoxic environments by anaerobic microorganisms. This process has been studied mostly with single-species culture incubations, although the relevance of such studies to Hg(II)-methylation in situ is limited because microbial activities in the environment are critically modulated by interactions among microbial functional groups. Here we describe experiments in which Hg(II)-methylation was examined within the context of various microbial syntrophies. We show enhanced Hg(II)-methylation under conditions that established syntrophy by interspecies hydrogen and acetate transfer. Relative to activity of monocultures, interactions of Hg(II) methylating sulfate-reducing bacteria with a methanogen stimulated potential Hg(II)-methylation rates 2-fold to 9-fold, and with Syntrophobacter sp. 1.7-fold to 1.8-fold; those of a Hg(II) methylating Syntrophobacter sp. with a methanogen increased Hg(II)-methylation 2-fold. Under sulfate-depleted conditions, higher Hg(II)-methylation rates in the syntrophic incubations corresponded to higher free energy yields (\u0394G\u00b0\u2032) than in the monocultures. Based on energetic considerations, we therefore propose that syntrophic microbial interactions are likely a major source of MeHg in sulfate- and iron-limited anoxic environments while in sulfate-replete environments, MeHg formation via sulfate reduction dominates.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41396-018-0106-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,3]],"date-time":"2018-04-03T22:12:57Z","timestamp":1522793577000},"page":"1826-1835","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":84,"title":["Syntrophic pathways for microbial mercury methylation"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ri-Qing","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Texas at Tyler , Tyler, TX 75799, USA"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University , New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John R","family":"Reinfelder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University , New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark E","family":"Hines","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell , Lowell, MA 01854, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tamar","family":"Barkay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University , New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024011609575406500_CR1","first-page":"155","volume-title":"Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology of 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September 2017","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"28 February 2018","order":2,"name":"revised","label":"Revised","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"5 March 2018","order":3,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"29 March 2018","order":4,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Compliance with Ethical Standards"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of Interest"}}]}}