Effect of thiol compounds and flavins on mercury and organomercurial degrading enzymes in mercury resistant aquatic bacteria.

TLDR: The authors report on enzymatic volatilization of HgCl{sub 2} by fourteen Hg-resistant bacterial strains and studied thiol specificity of HG-reductases and organomercurial lyases isolated from the above bacterial species.

Abstract: Plasmid-determined mercuric and organomercurial resistance in microorganisms has been studied by several workers. Mercury reductase, catalyzing the reduction of mercury depends on sulfhydryl compounds. Organomercurial lyase that catalyzes the splitting of C-Hg linkages also needs thiol compounds for its activity. Until recently, no study has been reported on thiol specificity of these enzymes from various sources. In the present study, the authors report on enzymatic volatilization of HgCl{sub 2} by fourteen Hg-resistant bacterial strains. They have also studied thiol specificity of Hg-reductases and organomercurial lyases isolated from the above bacterial species. Hg-reductase is known to have FAD-moiety which stimulates enzyme activity whereas FMN and riboflavin are ineffective in this regard. The effect of flavins, namely FAD, FMN and riboflavin, on Hg-reductase and organomercurial lyase activity is also reported here.