Demethylation-The Other Side of the Mercury Methylation Coin: A Critical Review.

ABSTRACT: The public and environmental health consequences of mercury (Hg) methylation have drawn much attention and considerable research to Hg methylation processes and their dynamics in diverse environments and under a multitude of conditions. However, the net methylmercury (MeHg) concentration that accumulates in the environment is equally determined by the rate of MeHg degradation, a complex process mediated by a variety of biotic and abiotic mechanisms, about which our knowledge is limited. Here we review the current knowledge on MeHg degradation and its potential pathways and mechanisms. We describe detoxification by resistant microorganisms that employ the Hg resistance (mer) system to reductively break the carbon-mercury (C-Hg) bond producing methane (CH₄) and inorganic me

SUBMITTER: Barkay T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10114901 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature