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. 1987 Dec;53(12):2725–2732. doi: 10.1128/aem.53.12.2725-2732.1987

Adaptation of Aquatic Microbial Communities to Hg2+ Stress †

Tamar Barkay 1
PMCID: PMC204188  PMID: 16347488

Abstract

The mechanism of adaptation to Hg2+ in four aquatic habitats was studied by correlating microbially mediated Hg2+ volatilization with the adaptive state of the exposed communities. Community diversity, heterotrophic activity, and Hg2+ resistance measurements indicated that adaptation of all four communities was stimulated by preexposure to Hg2+. In saline water communities, adaptation was associated with rapid volatilization after an initial lag period. This mechanism, however, did not promote adaptation in a freshwater sample, in which Hg2+ was volatilized slowly, regardless of the resistance level of the microbial community. Distribution of the mer operon among representative colonies of the communities was not related to adaptation to Hg2+. Thus, although volatilization enabled some microbial communities to sustain their functions in Hg2+-stressed environments, it was not mediated by the genes that serve as a model system in molecular studies of bacterial resistance to mercurials.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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