Figure 1.

Transition from Hg contaminated sites towards recovered landscapes, exploiting microbial resistance mechanisms in association with plants (1) Rhizosphere bacteria and fungi providing minerals (N, P, K, Fe), growth promoting molecules (hormones, enzymes), and Hg-mobilizing molecules (organic acids, amino acids, phenolic compounds) to the root cells; (2) Rhizobia during nodulation, providing N to plant root cells, by fixing atmospheric N₂; (3) Extended root architecture with tissues colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; (4) Hg mobilization by H⁺-ATPase protonation; (5) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-plant interface: minerals (purple) are received by the plant cell, while carbohydrates (green) are transferred to fungal cell where Hg is chelated to cysteine-rich proteins; (6) Hydrophobin monolayer enveloping fungal cell wall, sequestering Hg ions; (7) Reductive volatilization of ionic Hg by bacteria, and putatively fungal cytosolic mercuric reductase. Created with BioRender.com, accessed on 28 February 2021.