Rudd J W, Furutani A, Turner M A
Appl Environ Microbiol. 1980 Oct;40(4):777-82. doi: 10.1128/aem.40.4.777-782.1980.
A new radiochemical method has been applied to the examination of mercury methylation in fish intestinal contents. Intestinal contents of six freshwater fish species were found capable of converting 203Hg2+ to CH3203Hg+. This activity was observed in fish from five of six lakes tested whether or not there was mercury pollution. Bacterial activity in the intestinal contents is most likely responsible for this methylation. Methylating activity of piscivors increased with decreasing quantity of intestinal contents. Generally, pike and walleye intestinal contents methylated a larger fraction of 203Hg2+ than those of whitefish and suckers. These data contradict the previous general conclusion that there is no mercury methylation in fish.
一种新的放射化学方法已应用于检测鱼类肠道内容物中的汞甲基化。发现六种淡水鱼的肠道内容物能够将203Hg2+转化为CH3203Hg+。在六个测试湖泊中的五个湖泊采集的鱼类中均观察到了这种活性，无论是否存在汞污染。肠道内容物中的细菌活性很可能是这种甲基化的原因。食鱼性鱼类的甲基化活性随着肠道内容物数量的减少而增加。一般来说，狗鱼和大眼狮鲈的肠道内容物比白鲑和吸盘鱼的肠道内容物能甲基化更大比例的203Hg2+。这些数据与之前关于鱼类中不存在汞甲基化的普遍结论相矛盾。
