Towards Mechanistic Understanding of Mercury Availability and Toxicity to Aquatic Primary Producers.
The present article reviews current knowledge and recent progress on the bioavailability and toxicity of mercury to aquatic primary producers. Mercury is a ubiquitous toxic trace element of global concern. At the base of the food web, primary producers are central for mercury incorporation into the food web. Here, the emphasis is on key, but still poorly understood, processes governing the interactions between mercury species and phytoplankton, and macrophytes, two representatives of primary producers. Mass transfer to biota surface, adsorption to cell wall, internalization and release from cells, as well as underlying toxicity mechanisms of both inorganic mercury and methylmercury are discussed critically. In addition, the intracellular distribution and transformation processes, their importance for mercury toxicity, species-sensitivity differences and trophic transfer are presented. The mini-review is illustrated with examples of our own research.
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Perrine
P
Dranguet
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Rebecca
R
Flück
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Nicole
N
Regier
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Claudia
C
Cosio
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland.
Séverine
S
Le Faucheur
Environmental Biogeochemistry and Ecotoxicology Institute F.-A. Forel, Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva 10 route de Suisse CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland. vera.slaveykova@unige.ch.
Vera I
VI
Slaveykova
D020387:Food Chain; D008628:Mercury; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury