An Improved hgcAB Primer Set and Direct High-Throughput Sequencing Expand Hg-Methylator Diversity in Nature.

ABSTRACT: The gene pair hgcAB is essential for microbial mercury methylation. Our understanding of its abundance and diversity in nature is rapidly evolving. In this study we developed a new broad-range primer set for hgcAB, plus an expanded hgcAB reference library, and used these to characterize Hg-methylating communities from diverse environments. We applied this new Hg-methylator database to assign taxonomy to hgcA sequences from clone, amplicon, and metagenomic datasets. We evaluated potential biases introduced in primer design, sequence length, and classification, and suggest best practices for studying Hg-methylator diversity. Our study confirms the emerging picture of an expanded diversity of HgcAB-encoding microbes in many types of ecosystems, with abundant putati

SUBMITTER: Gionfriddo CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7573106 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature