This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bentley, R.
Right arrow Articles by Chasteen, T. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bentley, R.
Right arrow Articles by Chasteen, T. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 2002, p. 250-271, Vol. 66, No. 2
1092-2172/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.66.2.250-271.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Ronald Bentley1* and Thomas G. Chasteen2

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260,1 Department of Chemistry, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas 77341-21172

A significant 19th century public health problem was that the inhabitants of many houses containing wallpaper decorated with green arsenical pigments experienced illness and death. The problem was caused by certain fungi that grew in the presence of inorganic arsenic to form a toxic, garlic-odored gas. The garlic odor was actually put to use in a very delicate microbiological test for arsenic. In 1933, the gas was shown to be trimethylarsine. It was not until 1971 that arsenic methylation by bacteria was demonstrated. Further research in biomethylation has been facilitated by the development of delicate techniques for the determination of arsenic species. As described in this review, many microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts) and animals are now known to biomethylate arsenic, forming both volatile (e.g., methylarsines) and nonvolatile (e.g., methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) compounds. The enzymatic mechanisms for this biomethylation are discussed. The microbial conversion of sodium arsenate to trimethylarsine proceeds by alternate reduction and methylation steps, with S-adenosylmethionine as the usual methyl donor. Thiols have important roles in the reductions. In anaerobic bacteria, methylcobalamin may be the donor. The other metalloid elements of the periodic table group 15, antimony and bismuth, also undergo biomethylation to some extent. Trimethylstibine formation by microorganisms is now well established, but this process apparently does not occur in animals. Formation of trimethylbismuth by microorganisms has been reported in a few cases. Microbial methylation plays important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of these metalloid elements and possibly in their detoxification. The wheel has come full circle, and public health considerations are again important.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 37 Thornwood Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15228-2452. Phone: (412) 531-4290. Fax: (412) 624-4759. E-mail: rbentley{at}pitt.edu.

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 2002, p. 250-271, Vol. 66, No. 2
1092-2172/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.66.2.250-271.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Reith, F., Etschmann, B., Grosse, C., Moors, H., Benotmane, M. A., Monsieurs, P., Grass, G., Doonan, C., Vogt, S., Lai, B., Martinez-Criado, G., George, G. N., Nies, D. H., Mergeay, M., Pring, A., Southam, G., Brugger, J. (2009). Mechanisms of gold biomineralization in the bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 17757-17762 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, R.-Y., Ago, Y., Liu, W.-J., Mitani, N., Feldmann, J., McGrath, S. P., Ma, J. F., Zhao, F.-J. (2009). The Rice Aquaporin Lsi1 Mediates Uptake of Methylated Arsenic Species. Plant Physiol. 150: 2071-2080 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Qin, J., Lehr, C. R., Yuan, C., Le, X. C., McDermott, T. R., Rosen, B. P. (2009). Biotransformation of arsenic by a Yellowstone thermoacidophilic eukaryotic alga. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 5213-5217 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ollivier, P. R. L., Bahrou, A. S., Marcus, S., Cox, T., Church, T. M., Hanson, T. E. (2008). Volatilization and Precipitation of Tellurium by Aerobic, Tellurite-Resistant Marine Microbes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 7163-7173 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Michalke, K., Schmidt, A., Huber, B., Meyer, J., Sulkowski, M., Hirner, A. V., Boertz, J., Mosel, F., Dammann, P., Hilken, G., Hedrich, H. J., Dorsch, M., Rettenmeier, A. W., Hensel, R. (2008). Role of Intestinal Microbiota in Transformation of Bismuth and Other Metals and Metalloids into Volatile Methyl and Hydride Derivatives in Humans and Mice. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3069-3075 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lehr, C. R., Kashyap, D. R., McDermott, T. R. (2007). New Insights into Microbial Oxidation of Antimony and Arsenic. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2386-2389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Michalke, K., Meyer, J., Hensel, R. (2006). Effect of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane on Methylation of Bismuth by Methanosarcina barkeri.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6819-6821 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Qin, J., Rosen, B. P., Zhang, Y., Wang, G., Franke, S., Rensing, C. (2006). Arsenic detoxification and evolution of trimethylarsine gas by a microbial arsenite S-adenosylmethionine methyltransferase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 2075-2080 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dodge, A. G., Wackett, L. P. (2005). Metabolism of Bismuth Subsalicylate and Intracellular Accumulation of Bismuth by Fusarium sp. Strain BI. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 876-882 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sierra-Alvarez, R., Cortinas, I., Yenal, U., Field, J. A. (2004). Methanogenic Inhibition by Arsenic Compounds. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 5688-5691 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wackett, L. P., Dodge, A. G., Ellis, L. B. M. (2004). Microbial Genomics and the Periodic Table. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 647-655 [Full Text]  
  • Saltikov, C. W., Cifuentes, A., Venkateswaran, K., Newman, D. K. (2003). The ars Detoxification System Is Advantageous but Not Required for As(V) Respiration by the Genetically Tractable Shewanella Species Strain ANA-3. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 2800-2809 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»