Molecular and cultivation-dependent analysis of metal-reducing bacteria implicated in arsenic mobilisation in south-east asian aquifers

The reduction of sorbed As(V) to the potentially more mobile As(III) by As-respiring anaerobic bacteria has been implicated in the mobilisation of the toxic metalloid in aquifer sediments in SE Asia. However, there is currently only a limited amount of information on the identity of the organisms that can respire As(V) in these sediment systems. Here experiments are described that have targeted As(V)-respiring bacteria using cultivation-independent molecular techniques, and also more traditional microbiological approaches that have used growth media highly selective for organisms that can grow using arsenate as the sole electron acceptor supplied for anaerobic growth. The molecular techniques used have initially targeted DNA from microcosms displaying maximal rates of arsenate reduction, both with and without added electron donor. More recent studies from the authors’ laboratory have used stable isotope probing techniques, targeting DNA from the active microbial fraction in microcosms labelled with [13C]acetate supplied as an electron donor for arsenate reduction. Phylogenetic analyses using a highly conserved genetic marker (the 16S rRNA gene) have suggested the involvement of Sulfurospirillum and Geobacter species in arsenate-respiration, and this has been supported further by complimentary experiments using more traditional microbiological techniques. Additional research required to clarify the role of these organisms in the mobilisation of As in situ are discussed.