Uptake of methylmercury by marine microalgae and its bioaccumulation in them

Assessment of methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation by marine microalgae is critical to understand the dynamics of mercury (Hg) and MeHg in marine environments. We conducted incubation experiments with added MeHg to reveal its bioaccumulation by four marine microalgal lineages. Cyanophyceae had a higher...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of oceanography Vol. 76; no. 1; pp. 63 - 70
Main Authors Tada, Yuya, Marumoto, Kohji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Singapore Springer Singapore 01.02.2020
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Accumulation
Algae
Bioaccumulation
Biological magnification
Cell division
Cells
Community composition
Diatoms
Dimethylmercury
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Food chains
Food webs
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Incubation period
Marine environment
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Methyl mercury
Methylmercury
Microalgae
Oceanography
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Short Contribution
Stationary phase
Uptake
Dead cell
Marine microalgae
Living cell
Bioaccumulation
Methylmercury
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Summary:Assessment of methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation by marine microalgae is critical to understand the dynamics of mercury (Hg) and MeHg in marine environments. We conducted incubation experiments with added MeHg to reveal its bioaccumulation by four marine microalgal lineages. Cyanophyceae had a higher cellular MeHg accumulation than Pelagophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae, and Bacillariophyceae (diatom). MeHg accumulation was higher in living (than dead) diatom cells. Moreover, diatom cells did not release cellular MeHg during cell division and the stationary phase. Our findings suggest that the community composition and metabolic activity of marine microalgae can be critical for MeHg biomagnification in marine food webs.
ISSN:0916-8370
1573-868X
DOI:10.1007/s10872-019-00525-6