title: Arsenic detoxification and evolution of trimethylarsine gas by a microbial arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase.
abstract: In this article, a mechanism of arsenite [As(III)]resistance through methylation and subsequent volatization is described. Heterologous expression of arsM from Rhodopseudomonas palustris was shown to confer As(III) resistance to an arsenic-sensitive strain of Escherichia coli. ArsM catalyzes the formation of a number of methylated intermediates from As(III), with trimethylarsine as the end product. The net result is loss of arsenic, from both the medium and the cells. Because ArsM homologues are widespread in nature, this microbial-mediated transformation is proposed to have an important impact on the global arsenic cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Barry P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gejiao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rensing
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000378:metabolism*; D018053:Arsenites / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D008745:Methylation; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012241:Rhodopseudomonas / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D001152:Arsenicals; D018053:Arsenites; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine; D008780:Methyltransferases; C009572:trimethylarsine; C015001:arsenite; D001151:Arsenic