Tissue Uptake, Subcellular Distribution, and Metabolism of 14CH3HgCl and CH3203HgCl by Rainbow Trout, Salmo gairdneri

Uptake, whole tissue, and subcellular distribution of methylmercury (MeHg) by rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, was studied during, and in three 2-wk intervals following, a single 24-h exposure to 14CH3HgCl and CH3203HgCl. Gel permeation chromatography of cytosol fractions was performed on select tissues. Gills contained approximately 10 times as much MeHg as any other tissue after 24-h exposure whereas concentrations were lowest for brain and skeletal muscle. In the 2-wk period following exposure, gill MeHg concentrations decreased to levels comparable with most other tissues; methylmercury in most other tissues increased and then decreased during the subsequent 4-wk period. Methylmercury levels in brain, skeletal muscle, and gonad were highest at 6 wk. During the 6-wk interval following MeHg exposure, the percent of mercury as inorganic mercury (Hg++) increased in gill, kidney, and liver and to a lesser extent in all other tissues except skeletal muscle. Total MeHg was greatest in cytosol fractions and usually made up from 50 to 80% of the total tissue mercury. In liver cytosol a methylmercury binding metallothionein-like species accounted for up to 40% of the total methylmercury bound. Inorganic mercury (Hg++), probably derived from demethylation of methylmercury, was associated with a metallothionein-like protein detected in gill tissue but no more than 6% of the total mercury in the soluble fraction was bound to this protein(s). Mercury binding to metallothionein-like proteins in kidney and splenic fractions was minimal in spite of relatively large amounts of mercury in the cytosol from these tissues. Metallothionein may act as a binding scavenger for methylmercury and inorganic mercury in fish. Key words: methylmercury, uptake by trout, tissue distribution, subcellular distribution, metallothionein, detoxification