Figure 4

Volatilization of mercury from Hg(II) and C ₆ H ₅ Hg(I). E. coli cells carrying pUC118 (empty bar), pMRA114 (shaded bar), or pMKY12 (black bar) were grown in liquid medium containing 50 μM HgCl₂ (A) or 5 μM C₆H₅HgOCOCH₃ (B). After incubation at 37°C for 16 h, the amount of mercury remaining in the medium was measured as described in “Materials and Methods”. Data represent the mean ± S.D. of triplicate measurements from three independent experiments. **p < 0.01 vs. control. ^## p < 0.01 vs. pMRA114.