New mechanisms of bacterial arsenic resistance.
Arsenic is the most pervasive environmental substance and is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 human carcinogen. Nearly every organism has resistance pathways for inorganic arsenic, and in bacteria, their genes are found in arsenic resistance (ars) operons. Recently, a parallel pathway for organic arsenicals has been identified. The ars genes responsible for the organoarsenical detoxification includes arsM, which encodes an As(III) S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase, arsI, which encodes a C-As bond lyase, and arsH, which encodes a methylarsenite oxidase. The identification and properties of arsM, arsI and arsH are described in this review.
Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Hung-Chi
HC
Yang
Department of Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA. Electronic address: brosen@fiu.edu.
Barry P
BP
Rosen
D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*
D001152:Arsenicals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C080197:methylarsine oxide; D008780:Methyltransferases; D001151:Arsenic
Arsenic; As(III) S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase; C-As lyase; Methylarsenite oxidase; Organoarsenical