Mercury bioremediation

Mercury bioremediation research is now mainly limited to aqueous sources because mercury bound to soils and sediments is largely unavailable to bacterial cells over short exposures of hours or days. Techniques to measure bioavailable mercury in water using mercury-resistant bacteria show promise for use in decontamination of soils and sediments. Also, more research is needed on isolation of anaerobic strains of bacteria from mercury-contaminated sediments and their ability to metbylate and demethylate mercury under field conditions. 

Saouter, E., Turner, R. Barkay, T. (1994). Mercury microbial transformations and their potential for the remediation of a mercury-contaminated site. In Emerging Technology for Bioremediation of Metals, ed. J. L. Means R. E. Hinchee, pp. 99-104. London Lewis Publishers. 

Barkay, T Environmental Protection Agency Gulf Breeze, FL Bioremediation of mercury in aquatic systems US Department of Energy, Environmental Restoration and Waste Management... 

Enzymatic detoxification was determined to be the major resistance mechanism in all species of mercury-resistant bacteria. For example, mercuric reductase was essential for volatilization of Hg from Hg + and various organomercurial hydrolases were responsible for volatilization of methane (CH4) from methylmercury, for ethane (C2H4) from ethylmercury, and for benzene from phenylmercury. Minamata Bay bacterial isolates can also volatilize Hg from added inorganic and organic mercurials. Genes which govern the chemistry of mercury detoxification were abundant in bacteria found in Minamata Bay and other mercury-polluted sites these genetic strains of mercury-resistant bacteria show promise for bioremediation of mercury pollution. 

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