Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Arsenic is a metalloid whose name conjures up images of murder.Nonetheless, certain prokaryotes use arsenic oxyanions for energygeneration, either by oxidizing arsenite or by respiring arsenate.These microbes are phylogenetically diverse and occur in a widerange of habitats. Arsenic cycling may take place in the absenceof oxygen and can contribute to organic matter oxidation. Inaquifers, these microbial reactions may mobilize arsenic fromthe solid to the aqueous phase, resulting in contaminated drinkingwater. Here we review what is known about arsenic-metabolizingbacteria and their potential impact on speciation and mobilizationof arsenic in nature.
1 U.S. Geological Survey, Mailstop 480, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: roremlan{at}usgs.gov
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
REVIEW
F. M. M. Morel and N. M. Price (9 May 2003) Science300 (5621), 944.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1083545] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Arsenic(III) Fuels Anoxygenic Photosynthesis in Hot Spring Biofilms from Mono Lake, California.
T. R. Kulp, S. E. Hoeft, M. Asao, M. T. Madigan, J. T. Hollibaugh, J. C. Fisher, J. F. Stolz, C. W. Culbertson, L. G. Miller, and R. S. Oremland (2008)
Science
321, 967-970
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Regulation of Arsenate Resistance in Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 by an arsRBCC Operon and an arsC Gene.
Bacillus selenatarsenatis sp. nov., a selenate- and arsenate-reducing bacterium isolated from the effluent drain of a glass-manufacturing plant.
S. Yamamura, M. Yamashita, N. Fujimoto, M. Kuroda, M. Kashiwa, K. Sei, M. Fujita, and M. Ike (2007)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol
57, 1060-1064
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
The cymA Gene, Encoding a Tetraheme c-Type Cytochrome, Is Required for Arsenate Respiration in Shewanella Species.
Alkalilimnicola ehrlichii sp. nov., a novel, arsenite-oxidizing haloalkaliphilic gammaproteobacterium capable of chemoautotrophic or heterotrophic growth with nitrate or oxygen as the electron acceptor.
S. E. Hoeft, J. S. Blum, J. F. Stolz, F. R. Tabita, B. Witte, G. M. King, J. M. Santini, and R. S. Oremland (2007)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol
57, 504-512
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
A Mutant of the Arabidopsis Phosphate Transporter PHT1;1 Displays Enhanced Arsenic Accumulation.
P. Catarecha, M. D. Segura, J. M. Franco-Zorrilla, B. Garcia-Ponce, M. Lanza, R. Solano, J. Paz-Ares, and A. Leyva (2007)
PLANT CELL
19, 1123-1133
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Molecular Analysis of Arsenate-Reducing Bacteria within Cambodian Sediments following Amendment with Acetate.
G. Lear, B. Song, A. G. Gault, D. A. Polya, and J. R. Lloyd (2007)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
73, 1041-1048
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Dissimilatory arsenate and sulfate reduction in sediments of two hypersaline, arsenic-rich soda lakes: mono and searles lakes, california..
T. R. Kulp, S. E. Hoeft, L. G. Miller, C. Saltikov, J. N. Murphy, S. Han, B. Lanoil, and R. S. Oremland (2006)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
72, 6514-6526
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans sp. nov., a metalloresistant bacterium..
D. Muller, D. D. Simeonova, P. Riegel, S. Mangenot, S. Koechler, D. Lievremont, P. N. Bertin, and M.-C. Lett (2006)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol
56, 1765-1769
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Microbial Transformations of Arsenic in the Environment: From Soda Lakes to Aquifers.
A Na+:H+ Antiporter and a Molybdate Transporter Are Essential for Arsenite Oxidation in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
D. R. Kashyap, L. M. Botero, C. Lehr, D. J. Hassett, and T. R. McDermott (2006)
J. Bacteriol.
188, 1577-1584
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Complex Regulation of Arsenite Oxidation in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
D. R. Kashyap, L. M. Botero, W. L. Franck, D. J. Hassett, and T. R. McDermott (2006)
J. Bacteriol.
188, 1081-1088
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Diversity of Microorganisms in Fe-As-Rich Acid Mine Drainage Waters of Carnoules, France.
O. Bruneel, R. Duran, C. Casiot, F. Elbaz-Poulichet, and J.-C. Personne (2006)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
72, 551-556
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Interactions between the Fe(III)-Reducing Bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens and Arsenate, and Capture of the Metalloid by Biogenic Fe(II).
F. S. Islam, R. L. Pederick, A. G. Gault, L. K. Adams, D. A. Polya, J. M. Charnock, and J. R. Lloyd (2005)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
71, 8642-8648
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Expression Dynamics of Arsenic Respiration and Detoxification in Shewanella sp. Strain ANA-3.
C. W. Saltikov, R. A. Wildman Jr., and D. K. Newman (2005)
J. Bacteriol.
187, 7390-7396
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Persister cells mediate tolerance to metal oxyanions in Escherichia coli.
J. J. Harrison, H. Ceri, N. J. Roper, E. A. Badry, K. M. Sproule, and R. J. Turner (2005)
Microbiology
151, 3181-3195
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Characterization of aquifers conducting groundwaters with low and high arsenic concentrations: a comparative case study from West Bengal, India.
B. Nath, Z. Berner, S. Basu Mallik, D. Chatterjee, L. Charlet, and D. Stueben (2005)
Mineralogical Magazine
69, 841-854
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Microcosm depth profiles of arsenic release in a shallow aquifer, West Bengal.
A. G. Gault, F. S. Islam, D. A. Polya, J. M. Charnock, C. Boothman, D. Chatterjee, and J. R. Lloyd (2005)
Mineralogical Magazine
69, 855-863
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Potential role of the Fe(III)-reducing bacteria Geobacter and Geothrix in controlling arsenic solubility in Bengal delta sediments.
F. S. Islam, C. Boothman, A. G. Gault, D. A. Polya, and J. R. Lloyd (2005)
Mineralogical Magazine
69, 865-875
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
A Microbial Arsenic Cycle in a Salt-Saturated, Extreme Environment.
R. S. Oremland, T. R. Kulp, J. S. Blum, S. E. Hoeft, S. Baesman, L. G. Miller, and J. F. Stolz (2005)
Science
308, 1305-1308
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Genes and Enzymes Involved in Bacterial Oxidation and Reduction of Inorganic Arsenic.
S. Silver and L. T. Phung (2005)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
71, 599-608
|Full Text »|PDF »
Bacterial sulfate reduction limits natural arsenic contamination in groundwater.
(2004)
Geology
32, 953-956
Bacillus macyae sp. nov., an arsenate-respiring bacterium isolated from an Australian gold mine.
J. M. Santini, I. C. A. Streimann, and R. N. v. Hoven (2004)
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol
54, 2241-2244
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Redox Transformations of Arsenic Oxyanions in Periphyton Communities.
T. R. Kulp, S. E. Hoeft, and R. S. Oremland (2004)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
70, 6428-6434
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
arrA Is a Reliable Marker for As(V) Respiration.
D. Malasarn, C. W. Saltikov, K. M. Campbell, J. M. Santini, J. G. Hering, and D. K. Newman (2004)
Science
306, 455
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Methanogenic Inhibition by Arsenic Compounds.
R. Sierra-Alvarez, I. Cortinas, U. Yenal, and J. A. Field (2004)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
70, 5688-5691
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Arginine 60 in the ArsC arsenate reductase of E. coli plasmid R773 determines the chemical nature of the bound As(III) product.
S. DeMel, J. Shi, P. Martin, B. P. Rosen, and B. F.P. Edwards (2004)
Protein Sci.
13, 2330-2340
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Dissimilatory Arsenate Reduction with Sulfide as Electron Donor: Experiments with Mono Lake Water and Isolation of Strain MLMS-1, a Chemoautotrophic Arsenate Respirer.
S. E. Hoeft, T. R. Kulp, J. F. Stolz, J. T. Hollibaugh, and R. S. Oremland (2004)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol.
70, 2741-2747
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
