Abstract:Phytoplankton serves as a key entry point for the trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic food webs. However, it is unclear whether and how phytoplankton itself may degrade and metabolize MeHg in the dark. Using several strains of the freshwater alga Chlorella vulgaris, the marine diatom Chaetoceros gracilis, and two cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae), we report a light-independent pathway of MeHg degradation in water by phytoplankton, rather than its associated … Show more
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