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Oxidation of arsenite to arsenate by a bacterium isolated from an aquatic environment

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Abstract

Arsenic is ubiquitous in the biosphere and frequently reported to be an environmental pollutant. Global cycling of arsenic is affected by microorganisms. This paper describes a new bacterial strain which is able to efficiently oxidize arsenite (As[III]) into arsenate (As[V]) in liquid medium. The rate of the transformation depends on the cell density. Arsenic species were separated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and quantified by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The strain also exhibits high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for As[III] (6.65 mM (500 mg L-1)) and other heavy metals, such as cadmium (1.42 mM (160 mg L-1)) or lead (1.20 mM (250 mg L-1)). Partial identification of the strain revealed a chemoorganotrophic, Gram-negative and motile rod. The results presented here demonstrate that this strain could represent a good candidate for arsenic remediation in heavily polluted sites.

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Weeger, W., Lièvremont, D., Perret, M. et al. Oxidation of arsenite to arsenate by a bacterium isolated from an aquatic environment. Biometals 12, 141–149 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009255012328

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