Bioinformatics Investigations of Universal Stress Proteins from Mercury-Methylating .

The presence of methylmercury in aquatic environments and marine food sources is of global concern. The chemical reaction for the addition of a methyl group to inorganic mercury occurs in diverse bacterial taxonomic groups including the Gram-negative, sulfate-reducing family that inhabit extreme aquatic environments. The availability of whole-genome sequence datasets for members of the presents opportunities to understand the microbial mechanisms that contribute to methylmercury production in extreme aquatic environments.