New Insights into Microbial Oxidation of Antimony and Arsenic

Abstract

Sb(III) oxidation was documented in anAgrobacterium tumefaciensisolate that can also oxidize As(III). Equivalent Sb(III) oxidation rates were observed in the parental wild-type organism and in two well-characterized mutants that cannot oxidize As(III) for fundamentally different reasons. Therefore, despite the literature suggesting that Sb(III) and As(III) may be biochemical analogs, Sb(III) oxidation is catalyzed by a pathway different than that used for As(III). Sb(III) and As(III) oxidation was also observed for an eukaryotic acidothermophilic alga belonging to the orderCyanidiales, implying that the ability to oxidize metalloids may be phylogenetically widespread.