Metal Ions in Biological Systems

Analytical methods for the determination of mercury (II) and methylmercury compounds - the problem of specification; mercury in lakes and rivers; biogeochemical cycling of mercury in the marine environment; catchments as a source of mercury/methylmercury in boreal surface waters; gold rushes and mercury pollution; accumulation of mercury in soil and effects on the soil biota; biogeochemistry of mercury in the air-soil-plant system; microbial transformation of mercury species and their importance in the biogeochemical cycle of mercury; bioacummulation of mercury in the aquatic food chain in newly flooded areas; mercury in the food web - accumulation and transfer mechanisms; physiology and toxicology of mercury; metabolism of methylmercury in the brain and its toxicological significances; maternal-fetal mercury transport and fetal methylmercury poisoning; effects of mercury on the immune system; the impact of mercury released from dental silver fillings on antibiotic resistance in the primate oral and intestinal bacterial flora; inhibition of brain tubulin-guanosine triphosphate interactions by mercury - similarity to observations in Alzheimer's diseased brain; interaction of mercury with nucleic acids and their components; mercury-responsive gen regulation of mercury-199 as a probe of protein structure; bacterial mercury-resistance genes.