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 (Paenibacillus sp. 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 carboxymethylarsenic 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.