Global metagenomic survey identifies sewage-derived hgcAB
Journal
Nature communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Titre abrégé: Nat Commun
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101528555
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
26 Oct 2024
26 Oct 2024
Historique:
received:
08
04
2024
accepted:
14
10
2024
medline:
27
10
2024
pubmed:
27
10
2024
entrez:
27
10
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic systems poses a serious public health risk through bioaccumulation in the aquatic food web. In recent years, MeHg has been observed to increase to concerning levels globally in rivers near cities; however, the causes of this increase are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate the significant role of sewage contamination by analyzing over 1,300 publicly available metagenomes in urban rivers worldwide, and conducting experiments with water samples across China. We find that sewage contamination significantly increases the abundance of mercury (Hg)-methylating microorganisms in urban rivers globally. This increase is primarily attributed to the high abundance of active Hg-methylating microorganisms in sewage, which migrate to rivers via direct discharge or combined sewer overflows (CSOs), becoming key contributors to elevated riverine MeHg levels. Our findings underscore the importance of effectively eliminating Hg-methylating microorganisms from sewage to mitigate the public health risks associated with MeHg in urban rivers.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39461941
doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53479-9
pii: 10.1038/s41467-024-53479-9
doi:
Substances chimiques
Methylmercury Compounds
0
Sewage
0
Water Pollutants, Chemical
0
Mercury
FXS1BY2PGL
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
9262Subventions
Organisme : China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists
ID : 52425001
Organisme : National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)
ID : U23A2049
Organisme : National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)
ID : 51978289
Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
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