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Internal Dynamics and Metabolism of Mercury in Biota: A Review of Insights from Mercury Stable Isotopes.

ABSTRACT: Monitoring mercury (Hg) levels in biota is considered an important objective for the effectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention. While many studies have characterized Hg levels in organisms at multiple spatiotemporal scales, concentration analyses alone often cannot provide sufficient information on the Hg exposure sources and internal processes occurring within biota. Here, we review the decadal scientific progress of using Hg isotopes to understand internal processes that modify the speciation, transport, and fate of Hg within biota. Mercury stable isotopes have emerged as a powerful tool for assessing Hg sources and biogeochemical processes in natural environments. A better understanding of the tissue location and internal mechanisms leading to Hg isotope change is key to assessing its use for biomonitoring. We synthesize the current understanding and uncertainties of internal processes leading to Hg isotope fractionation in a variety of biota, in a sequence of better to less studied organisms (i.e., birds, marine mammals, humans, fish, plankton, and invertebrates). This review discusses the opportunities and challenges of using certain forms of biota for Hg source monitoring and the need to further elucidate the physiological mechanisms that control the accumulation, distribution, and toxicity of Hg in biota by coupling new techniques with Hg stable isotopes.

SUBMITTER: Li ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9261262 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Data analysis and mass spectrometry tools have advanced significantly in the last decade. This ongoing revolution has elevated the status of analytical chemistry within the big-data omics era. High resolution mass spectrometers (HRMS) can now distinguish different metabolites with mass to charge ratios (i.e. m/z) that differ by 0.01 Da or less. This unprecedented level of resolution not only enables identification of previously unknown compounds but also presents an opportunity to establish active metabolic pathways through quantification of isotope enrichment. Studies with stable isotope tracers continue to contribute to our knowledge of biological pathways in human, plant and bacterial species, however most current studies have been based on targeted analyses. The capacity of HRMS to resolve near-overlapping isotopologues and identify compounds with high mass precision presents a strategy to assess ‘active’ pathways de novo from data generated in an untargeted way, that is blind to the metabolic network and therefore unbiased. Currently, identifying metabolic features, enriched with stable isotopes, at an ‘omics’ level remains an experimental bottleneck, limiting our capacity to understand biological network operation at the metabolic level. We developed data analysis tools that: i) use labeling information and exact mass to determine the elemental composition of each isotopically enriched ion, ii) apply correlation-based approaches to cluster metabolite peaks with similar patterns of isotopic labels and, iii) leverage this information to build directed metabolic networks de novo. Using Camelina sativa, an emerging oilseed model, we demonstrate the power of stable isotope labeling in combination with imaging and HRMS to reconstruct lipid metabolic networks in developing seeds and are currently addressing questions about lipid and central metabolism. Tools developed in this study will have a broader application to assess context specific operation of metabolic pathways.

Dataset Information

Internal Dynamics and Metabolism of Mercury in Biota: A Review of Insights from Mercury Stable Isotopes.

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