Selenium Differentially Influences Methylmercury Retention across Mayfly Life Stages.

ABSTRACT: Though high mercury and selenium concentrations are individually toxic to organisms, there is a hypothesized antagonistic relationship. This potential mercury-selenium interaction is under-studied in aquatic macroinvertebrates, particularly in relation to complex life histories. We examined the proposed effect of selenium on methylmercury accumulation between four life stages for a parthenogenetic mayfly (Neocloeon triangulifer). We exposed diatoms to elevated methylmercury concentrations and fed them to mayflies exposed to elevated aqueous selenomethionine. We found some support for the mercury-selenium antagonism hypothesis, but it was context-specific. Selenium reduced methylmercury accumulation in high but not low methylmercury environments. Though terrestrial adult life stages

SUBMITTER: Gerson JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12044700 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature