title: A tale of two oxidation states: bacterial colonization of arsenic-rich environments.
abstract: Microbial biotransformations have a major impact on contamination by toxic elements, which threatens public health in developing and industrial countries. Finding a means of preserving natural environments-including ground and surface waters-from arsenic constitutes a major challenge facing modern society. Although this metalloid is ubiquitous on Earth, thus far no bacterium thriving in arsenic-contaminated environments has been fully characterized. In-depth exploration of the genome of the beta-proteobacterium Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans with regard to physiology, genetics, and proteomics, revealed that it possesses heretofore unsuspected mechanisms for coping with arsenic. Aside from multiple biochemical processes such as arsenic oxidation, reduction, and efflux, H. arsenicoxydans also exhibits positive chemotaxis and motility towards arsenic and metalloid scavenging by exopolysaccharides. These observations demonstrate the existence of a novel strategy to efficiently colonize arsenic-rich environments, which extends beyond oxidoreduction reactions. Such a microbial mechanism of detoxification, which is possibly exploitable for bioremediation applications of contaminated sites, may have played a crucial role in the occupation of ancient ecological niches on earth.
authors: Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique et Microbiologie, UMR7156 CNRS and Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Muller
authors: Claudine
authors: C
authors: Médigue
authors: Sandrine
authors: S
authors: Koechler
authors: Valérie
authors: V
authors: Barbe
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Barakat
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Talla
authors: Violaine
authors: V
authors: Bonnefoy
authors: Evelyne
authors: E
authors: Krin
authors: Florence
authors: F
authors: Arsène-Ploetze
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Carapito
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Chandler
authors: Benoît
authors: B
authors: Cournoyer
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Cruveiller
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Dossat
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Duval
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Heymann
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Leize
authors: Aurélie
authors: A
authors: Lieutaud
authors: Didier
authors: D
authors: Lièvremont
authors: Yuko
authors: Y
authors: Makita
authors: Sophie
authors: S
authors: Mangenot
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Nitschke
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Ortet
authors: Nicolas
authors: N
authors: Perdrial
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Schoepp
authors: Patricia
authors: P
authors: Siguier
authors: Diliana D
authors: DD
authors: Simeonova
authors: Zoé
authors: Z
authors: Rouy
authors: Béatrice
authors: B
authors: Segurens
authors: Evelyne
authors: E
authors: Turlin
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Vallenet
authors: Alain
authors: A
authors: Van Dorsselaer
authors: Stéphanie
authors: S
authors: Weiss
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Weissenbach
authors: Marie-Claire
authors: MC
authors: Lett
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Danchin
authors: Philippe N
authors: PN
authors: Bertin
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008670:Metals / Q000494:pharmacology; D008954:Models, Biological; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D002244:Carbon; D001151:Arsenic