Development and Validation of Broad-Range Qualitative and Clade-Specific Quantitative Molecular Probes for Assessing Mercury Methylation in the Environment.

ABSTRACT: Two genes, hgcA and hgcB, are essential for microbial mercury (Hg) methylation. Detection and estimation of their abundance, in conjunction with Hg concentration, bioavailability, and biogeochemistry, are critical in determining potential hot spots of methylmercury (MeHg) generation in at-risk environments. We developed broad-range degenerate PCR primers spanning known hgcAB genes to determine the presence of both genes in diverse environments. These primers were tested against an extensive set of pure cultures with published genomes, including 13 Deltaproteobacteria, nine Firmicutes, and nine methanogenic Archaea genomes. A distinct PCR product at the expected size was confirmed for all hgcAB(+) strains tested via Sanger sequencing. Additionally, we developed clade-specific degenerate qua

SUBMITTER: Christensen GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5038027 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature