气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Microbial methylation potential of mercury sulfide particles dictated by surface structure

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DOI	10.1038/s41561-021-00735-y
	Microbial methylation potential of mercury sulfide particles dictated by surface structure
	Tian L.; Guan W.; Ji Y.; He X.; Chen W.; Alvarez P.J.J.; Zhang T.
发表日期	2021
ISSN	17520894
起始页码	409
结束页码	416
卷号	14 期号:6
英文摘要	Environmental contamination by mercury in its organometallic form, methylmercury, remains a major global concern due to its neurotoxicity, environmental persistence and biomagnification through the food chain. Accurate prediction of mercury methylation cannot be achieved based on aqueous speciation alone, and there remains limited mechanistic understanding of microbial methylation of particulate-phase mercury. Here we assess the time-dependent changes in structural properties and methylation potential of nanoparticulate mercury using microscopic and spectroscopic analyses, microcosm bioassays and theoretical calculations. We show that the methylation potential of a mercury sulfide mineral ubiquitous in contaminated soils and sediments (nanoparticulate metacinnabar) is determined by its crystal structure. Methylmercury production increases when more of nano-metacinnabar’s exposed surfaces occur as the (111) facet, due to its large binding affinity to methylating bacteria, likely via the protein transporter responsible for mercury cellular uptake prior to methylation. During nanocrystal growth, the (111) facet diminishes, lessening methylation of nano-metacinnabar. However, natural ligands alleviate this process by preferentially adsorbing to the (111) facet, and consequently hinder natural attenuation of mercury methylation. We show that the methylation potential of nanoparticulate mercury is independent of surface area. Instead, the nano-scale surface structure of nanoparticulate mercury is crucial for understanding the environmental behaviour of mercury and other nutrient or toxic soft elements. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
英文关键词	crystal structure; mercury (element); microbial activity; nanoparticle; natural attenuation; persistence; protein; speciation (chemistry); sulfide; toxicity
语种	英语
来源期刊	Nature Geoscience
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/206966
作者单位	College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, Nankai University, Tianjin, China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Tian L.,Guan W.,Ji Y.,et al. Microbial methylation potential of mercury sulfide particles dictated by surface structure[J],2021,14(6).
APA	Tian L..,Guan W..,Ji Y..,He X..,Chen W..,...&Zhang T..(2021).Microbial methylation potential of mercury sulfide particles dictated by surface structure.Nature Geoscience,14(6).
MLA	Tian L.,et al."Microbial methylation potential of mercury sulfide particles dictated by surface structure".Nature Geoscience 14.6(2021).