Freshwater bacteria can methylate selenium through the thiopurine methyltransferase pathway.

ABSTRACT: Involvement of the bacterial thiopurine methyltransferase (bTPMT) in natural selenium methylation by freshwater was investigated. A freshwater environment that had no known selenium contamination but exhibited reproducible emission of dimethyl selenide (DMSe) or dimethyl diselenide (DMDSe) when it was supplemented with an organic form of selenium [(methyl)selenocysteine] or an inorganic form of selenium (sodium selenite) was used. The distribution of the bTPMT gene (tpm) in the microflora was studied. Freshwater bacteria growing on 10 micro M sodium selenite and 10 micro M sodium selenate were isolated, and 4.5 and 10% of the strains, respectively, were shown by colony blot hybridization to hybridize with a Pseudomonas syringae tpm DNA probe. Ribotyping showed that these strains are closel

SUBMITTER: Ranjard L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC165148 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature