A hidden demethylation pathway removes mercury from rice plants and mitigates mercury flux to food chains

Dietary exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) causes irreversible damage to 45 human cognition, and is mitigated by photolysis and microbial demethylation of MeHg. 46 Here, we report a hidden pathway of MeHg demethylation independent of light and 47 microorganisms. This natural pathway exists in crops and is driven by reactive oxygen 48 species generated in vivo, rapidly transforming MeHg to inorganic Hg and then 49 eliminating Hg from plants as gaseous Hg0 . Methylmercury concentrations in rice 50 grains would increase by 2.4- to 4.7-fold without this pathway, which equates to IQ 51 losses of 0.01−0.51 points/newborn in major rice consuming countries, corresponding 52 to annual economic losses of $30.7−84.2 billion USD globally. This newly discovered 53 pathway effectively removes Hg from human food webs, playing an important role in 54 exposure mitigation and global Hg cycling.

Palavras-chave

Rice Microbes Demethylation Health risks Reactive oxygen species Methylmercury

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/29010

Editora

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

DOI

10.1038/s43016-023-00910-x

Coleções

FCT2-Artigos (em revistas ou actas indexadas)

Licença CC

cclicense-by

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