Mining-impacted rice paddies select for Archaeal methylators and reveal a putative (Archaeal) regulator of mercury methylation.

ABSTRACT: Methylmercury (MeHg) is a microbially produced neurotoxin derived from inorganic mercury (Hg), which accumulation in rice represents a major health concern to humans. However, the microbial control of MeHg dynamics in the environment remains elusive. Here, leveraging three rice paddy fields with distinct concentrations of Hg (Total Hg (THg): 0.21-513 mg kg^-1 dry wt. soil; MeHg: 1.21-6.82 ng g^-1 dry wt. soil), we resorted to metagenomics to determine the microbial determinants involved in MeHg production under contrasted contamination settings. We show that Hg methylating Archaea, along with methane-cycling genes, were enriched in severely contaminated paddy soils. Metagenome-resolved Genomes of novel putative Hg methylators belonging to Nitrospinota (UBA7883), with po

SUBMITTER: Zhang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10349881 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature