Bacterial degradation of arsenobetaine via dimethylarsinoylacetate

Microorganisms from Mytilus edulis (marine mussel) degraded arsenobetaine, with the formation of trimethylarsine oxide, dimethylarsinate and methylarsonate. Four bacterial isolates from these mixed-cultures were shown by HPLC/hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (HPLC/HG-AFS) analysis to degrade arsenobetaine to dimethylarsinate in pure culture; there was no evidence of trimethylarsine oxide formation. Two of the isolates ( Paenibacillussp. strain 13943 and Pseudomonas sp. strain 13944) were shown by HPLC/inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC/ICPMS) analysis to degrade arsenobetaine by initial cleavage of a methyl-arsenic bond to form dimethylarsinoylacetate, with subsequent cleavage of the carboxymethyl-arsenic bond to yield dimethylarsinate. Arsenobetaine biodegradation by pure cultures was biphasic, with dimethylarsinoylacetate accumulating in culture supernatants during the culture growth phase and its removal accompanying dimethylarsinate formation during a carbon-limited stationary phase. The Paenibacillus sp. also converted exogenously supplied dimethylarsinoylacetate to dimethylarsinate only under carbon-limited conditions. Lysed-cell extracts of the Paenibacillus sp. showed constitutive expression of enzyme(s) capable of arsenobetaine degradation through methyl-arsenic and carboxymethyl-arsenic bond cleavage. The work establishes the capability of particular bacteria to cleave both types of arsenic-carbon bonds of arsenobetaine and demonstrates that mixed-community functioning is not an obligate requirement for arsenobetaine biodegradation.