Affiliation:
1. Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
Abstract
An investigation of mercury-resistant bacteria was undertaken to determine their role in the accumulation of mercury in a simplified food chain. Oysters (
Crassostrea virginica
) were maintained in a closed system, sealed aquarium with stirred, aerated water containing 10 μg of
203
HgCl
2
per liter. Uptake of
203
Hg by oysters held under control conditions was compared with that of
203
Hg uptake by oysters under similar conditions except that mercury-accumulating and mercury-metabolizing species of
Pseudomonas
, isolated from Chesapeake Bay, were added to the experimental oysters. After incubation for 4 days, the major portion of the
203
Hg in the water column was found to be associated with the microparticulate fraction, corresponding to a rise in total viable count. Mercury accumulation in the oysters was significantly higher in the gill and visceral tissue than other tissues. Mercury concentrations were 200 times greater in tissue fractions of oysters dosed with mercury-metabolizing bacteria compared with the oysters held under control conditions without mercury-metabolizing bacteria.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
Cited by
2 articles.
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