The Mercury Resistance Operon: From an Origin in a Geothermal Environment to an Efficient Detoxification Machine
Mercuric mercury (Hg[II]) is a highly toxic and mobile element that is likely to have had a pronounced and adverse effect on biology since Earth’s oxygenation ~2.4 Gy ago due to its high affinity for protein sulfhydryl groups, which upon binding destabilizes protein structure and decreases enzyme ac...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2012-10-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00349/full |