Microbial Oxidation and Demethylation Processes in the Environmental Mercury Cycle

Summers, Anne O.

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Athens, GA

关键词: Crystallography;    Biogeochemical Mercury Cycling;    Methylmercury;    Enzymes;    Bioremediation;   

DOI  :  10.2172/899033
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FG02-97ER62358
RP-ID  :  899033

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This project demonstrated that bacterial catalase enzymes can convert unreactive Hg(0) to highly reactive Hg(II) ion. It also demonstrated the mechanism of the organomercural lyase, a bacterial enzyme which degrades methylmercury and other organomercurials. Lastly, it demonstrated the 3-dimensional structure of this enzyme by both solution NMR and by x-ray crystallography. These structures provide insights into the catalytic mechanism of the lyase that will allow engineering of variants with improved ability to degrade methylmercury.