Conveners: Thomas Kulp (US), Joanne Santini (UK), Jochen Bundschuh (AU, SE) & Microbial arsenic metabolism and the impact on arsenic bioremediation

Methylation reactions convert As(V) or As(III) into compounds such as Monomethyl Arsonate [MMA(V)], Methylarsonite [MMA(III)], Dimethylarsinate [DMA(V)], Dimethylarsinite [DMA(III)], and trimethylarsine oxide as well as several volatile arsines, including monomethylarsine, dimethylars-ine, and trimethylarsine. Although many of the enzymes involved remain unknown, a methyl transferase, ArsM, from Rhodobacter sphaeroides confers resistance to arsenic and can generate trimethylarsine (Tsai et al. 2009).