title: An origin for arsenobetaine involving bacterial formation of an arsenic-carbon bond.
abstract: Lysed-cell extract of a Pseudomonas sp. was shown to catalyse bioconversion of dimethylarsinoylacetate to arsenobetaine and dimethylarsinate. Provision of the universal methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine to bioconversion mixtures promoted both the rate and extent of arsenobetaine formation. These findings suggest that in the proposed biosynthesis of arsenobetaine from dimethylarsinoylethanol, oxidation (i.e. the formation of the carboxymethyl group of dimethylarsinoylacetate) would precede the reduction and methylation at the arsenic atom. The presence of enzyme(s) capable of methylating dimethylarsinoylacetate in a bacterial isolate from marine mussel (Mylitus edulis), highlights a possible direct involvement of prokaryotic organisms in the biosynthesis of organoarsenic compounds within marine animals.
authors.affiliation: Leicester School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.
authors.forename: Alisdair W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Goessler
authors.forename: Richard O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Jenkins
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D001151:Arsenic / Q000737:chemistry*; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D008745:Methylation; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000378:metabolism*; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D001152:Arsenicals; C477455:dimethylarsinoylacetic acid; D002244:Carbon; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine; D001151:Arsenic; C038992:arsenobetaine