Global metagenomic survey identifies sewage-derived hgcAB+ microorganisms as key contributors to riverine methylmercury production

Global metagenomic survey identifies sewage-derived hgcAB+ microorganisms as key contributors to riverine methylmercury production | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Global metagenomic survey identifies sewage-derived hgcAB+ microorganisms as key contributors to riverine methylmercury production Feng Jiang, JunTao Xia, ZhiGuo Yuan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4855465/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic systems poses a serious threat to public health through the aquatic food web. In recent years, MeHg has been observed to increase to concerning levels globally in rivers near cities; however, the causes of this elevation are not well understood. Here, we reveal the significant impact of sewage contamination by analyzing over 1,300 publicly available metagenomes in urban rivers worldwide, and conducting experiments with water samples across China. We find that sewage contamination significantly increases the abundance of mercury (Hg)-methylating microorganisms in urban rivers globally. This increase is mainly attributed to the high abundance of active Hg-methylating microorganisms in sewage, which migrate to rivers through either direct discharge or combined sewer overflows (CSOs), thereby affecting riverine MeHg production. Our findings suggest that effectively eliminating Hg-methylating microorganisms from sewage is crucial for mitigating public health risks associated with MeHg in urban rivers. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Urban ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryTable.xlsx Supportinformation.pdf nreditorialpolicychecklist.pdf nrreportingsummary.pdf NCOMMS2420852Ars.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Oct, 2024 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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