He got a MSc in marine biodiversity and biomolecules from the University of Toulon, France. His research is focused on the interactions between phytoplankton and mercury. He highlighted the role of phytoplankton in the biogeochemical cycle of mercury by (i) evaluating the biotic transformations performed by a cyanobacterium and natural phytoplankton communities, (ii) determining the effects of thiols bioligands on the bioaccumulation of Hg species by cyanobacteria.
Understanding
of mercury (Hg) complexation with low molecular weight
(LMW) bioligands will help elucidate its speciation. In natural waters,
the rate of this complexation is governed by physicochemical, geochemical,
and biochemical parameters. However, the role of bioligands involved
in Hg intracellular handling by aquatic microorganisms is not well
documented. Here, we combine the use of isotopically labeled Hg species
(inorganic and monomethylmercury, iHg and MeHg) with gas or liquid
chromatography coupling to elemental and molecular mass spectrometry
to explore the role of intracellular biogenic ligands involved in
iHg and MeHg speciation in cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, a representative phytoplankton species. This approach
allowed to track resulting metabolic and newly found intracellular
Hg biocomplexes (e.g., organic thiols) in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 finding different intracellular Hg species binding
affinities with both high and low molecular weight (HMW and LMW) bioligands
in the exponential and stationary phase. Furthermore, the parallel
detection with both elemental and molecular ionization sources allowed
the sensitive detection and molecular identification of glutathione
(GSH) as the main low molecular weight binding ligand to iHg ((GS)2-Hg) and MeHg (GS-MeHg) in the cytosolic fraction. Such a
novel experimental approach expands our knowledge on the role of biogenic
ligands involved in iHg and MeHg intracellular handling in cyanobacteria.
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