At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers in the Microbial Ecology and Physiology group in the Biosciences Division have developed designer probes that identify microbes that carry the genes for mercury methylation. These molecular probes also measure or quantify, how many specific types of microbes contribute to the toxin-producing process.
The development of molecular probes is a substantial improvement over previous work. The new approach considers the different degrees of methylation potential for specific types of microbes. These findings will enable a more realistic view of possible methylmercury production in a specific setting. The resulting data enable more accurate risk management assessments.
G.A. Christensen, A.M. Wymore, A.J. King, M. Podar, R.A. Hurt Jr., E.U. Santillan, A. Soren, C.C. Brandt, S.D. Brown, A.V. Palumbo, J.D. Wall, C.C. Gilmour, and D.A. Elias, “Development and validation of broad-range qualitative and clade-specific quantitative molecular probes for assessing mercury methylation in the environment.” Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2016). doi:10.1128/AEM.01271-16
