Diversity of mercury resistance determinants among Bacillus strains isolated from sediment of Minamata Bay.
Thirty mercury-resistant (Hg R) Bacillus strains were isolated from mercury-polluted sediment of Minamata Bay, Japan. Mercury resistance phenotypes were classified into broad-spectrum (resistant to inorganic Hg(2+) and organomercurials) and narrow-spectrum (resistant to inorganic Hg(2+) and sensitive to organomercurials) groups. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product sizes and the restriction nuclease site maps of mer operon regions from all broad-spectrum Hg R Bacillus were identical to that of Bacillus megaterium MB1. On the other hand, the PCR products of the targeted merP (extracellular mercury-binding protein gene) and merA (intracellular mercury reductase protein gene) regions from the narrow-spectrum Hg R Bacillus were generally smaller than those of the B. megaterium MB1 mer determinant. Diversity of gene structure configurations was also observed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles of the merA PCR products from the narrow-spectrum Hg R Bacillus. The genetic diversity of narrow-spectrum mer operons was greater than that of broad-spectrum ones.
Narita
Masaru
M
Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku Gakuin University, Tagajo, 985-8537, Japan.
Chiba
Kazuyuki
K
Nishizawa
Hiroshi
H
Ishii
Hidenori
H
Huang
Chieh-Chen
CC
Kawabata
Zen'ichiro
Z
Silver
Simon
S
Endo
Ginro
G
D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D014876:Water Pollution
D004202:Disinfectants; D008627:Mercuric Chloride; D008628:Mercury