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1. Inhibition of methanogenesis leads to accumulation of methylated arsenic species and enhances arsenic volatilization from rice paddy soil

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151696  

   Zhang, Xuhui; Reid, Matthew C. (April 2022, Science of The Total Environment)
2. High Arsenic Levels Increase Activity Rather than Diversity or Abundance of Arsenic Metabolism Genes in Paddy Soils

   https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01383-21  

   Zhang, Si-Yu; Xiao, Xiao; Chen, Song-Can; Zhu, Yong-Guan; Sun, Guo-Xin; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T. (September 2021, Applied and Environmental Microbiology)

   Cann, Isaac (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Arsenic (As) metabolism genes are generally present in soils, but their diversity, relative abundance, and transcriptional activity in response to different As concentrations remain unclear, limiting our understanding of the microbial activities that control the fate of an important environmental pollutant. To address this issue, we applied metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to paddy soils showing a gradient of As concentrations to investigate As resistance genes ( ars ) including arsR , acr3 , arsB , arsC , arsM , arsI , arsP , and arsH as well as energy-generating As respiratory oxidation ( aioA ) and reduction ( arrA ) genes. Somewhat unexpectedly, the relative DNA abundances and diversities of ars , aioA , and arrA genes were not significantly different between low and high (∼10 versus ∼100 mg kg −1 ) As soils. Compared to available metagenomes from other soils, geographic distance rather than As levels drove the different compositions of microbial communities. Arsenic significantly increased ars gene abundance only when its concentration was higher than 410 mg kg −1 . In contrast, metatranscriptomics revealed that relative to low-As soils, high-As soils showed a significant increase in transcription of ars and aioA genes, which are induced by arsenite, the dominant As species in paddy soils, but not arrA genes, which are induced by arsenate. These patterns appeared to be community wide as opposed to taxon specific. Collectively, our findings advance understanding of how microbes respond to high As levels and the diversity of As metabolism genes in paddy soils and indicated that future studies of As metabolism in soil or other environments should include the function (transcriptome) level. IMPORTANCE Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid pervasively present in the environment. Microorganisms have evolved the capacity to metabolize As, and As metabolism genes are ubiquitously present in the environment even in the absence of high concentrations of As. However, these previous studies were carried out at the DNA level; thus, the activity of the As metabolism genes detected remains essentially speculative. Here, we show that the high As levels in paddy soils increased the transcriptional activity rather than the relative DNA abundance and diversity of As metabolism genes. These findings advance our understanding of how microbes respond to and cope with high As levels and have implications for better monitoring and managing an important toxic metalloid in agricultural soils and possibly other ecosystems. 

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3. Introducing the ArsR-Regulated Arsenic Stimulon

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.630562  

   Rawle, Rachel; Saley, Tara C.; Kang, Yoon-Suk; Wang, Qian; Walk, Seth; Bothner, Brian; McDermott, Timothy R. (March 2021, Frontiers in Microbiology)

   null (Ed.)

   The microbial ars operon encodes the primary bacterial defense response to the environmental toxicant, arsenic. An important component of this operon is the arsR gene, which encodes ArsR, a member of the family of proteins categorized as DNA-binding transcriptional repressors. As currently documented, ArsR regulates its own expression as well as other genes in the same ars operon. This study examined the roles of four ArsR proteins in the well-developed model Gram-negative bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5A. RNASeq was used to compare and characterize gene expression profiles in ± arsenite-treated cells of the wild-type strain and in four different arsR mutants. We report that ArsR-controlled transcription regulation is truly global, extending well beyond the current ars operon model, and includes both repression as well as apparent activation effects. Many cellular functions are significantly influenced, including arsenic resistance, phosphate acquisition/metabolism, sugar transport, chemotaxis, copper tolerance, iron homeostasis, and many others. While there is evidence of some regulatory overlap, each ArsR exhibits its own regulatory profile. Furthermore, evidence of a regulatory hierarchy was observed; i.e. ArsR1 represses arsR4 , ArsR4 activates arsR2 , and ArsR2 represses arsR3 . Additionally and unexpectedly, aioB (arsenite oxidase small subunit) expression was shown to be under partial positive control by ArsR2 and ArsR4. Summarizing, this study demonstrates the regulatory portfolio of arsenite-activated ArsR proteins and includes essentially all major cellular functions. The broad bandwidth of arsenic effects on microbial metabolism assists in explaining and understanding the full impact of arsenic in natural ecosystems, including the mammalian gut. 

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4. Arsenic and the gastrointestinal tract microbiome

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12814  

   McDermott, Timothy_R; Stolz, John_F; Oremland, Ronald_S (January 2020, Environmental Microbiology Reports)

   Summary Arsenic is a toxin, ranking first on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Environmental Protection Agency Priority List of Hazardous Substances. Chronic exposure increases the risk of a broad range of human illnesses, most notably cancer; however, there is significant variability in arsenic‐induced disease among exposed individuals. Human genetics is a known component, but it alone cannot account for the large inter‐individual variability in the presentation of arsenicosis symptoms. Each part of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) may be considered as a unique environment with characteristic pH, oxygen concentration, and microbiome. Given the well‐established arsenic redox transformation activities of microorganisms, it is reasonable to imagine how the GIT microbiome composition variability among individuals could play a significant role in determining the fate, mobility and toxicity of arsenic, whether inhaled or ingested. This is a relatively new field of research that would benefit from early dialogue aimed at summarizing what is known and identifying reasonable research targets and concepts. Herein, we strive to initiate this dialogue by reviewing known aspects of microbe–arsenic interactions and placing it in the context of potential for influencing host exposure and health risks. We finish by considering future experimental approaches that might be of value. 

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5. Mass fluxes of dissolved arsenic discharging to the Meghna River are sufficient to account for the mass of arsenic in riverbank sediments

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104068  

   Huang, Yibin; Knappett, Peter S.K.; Berube, Michelle; Datta, Saugata; Cardenas, M. Bayani; Rhodes, Kimberly A.; Dimova, Natasha T.; Choudhury, Imtiaz; Ahmed, Kazi M.; van Geen, Alexander (December 2022, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology)