ABSTRACT
Although arsenic and antimony are generally toxic to life, some microorganisms exist that can metabolize some forms of these elements. Some can use arsenite or stibnite as partial or sole energy sources whereas others can use arsenate as terminal electron acceptors. Still other microbes can metabolize arsenic and antimony compounds to detoxify them. These reactions are important from a geomicrobial standpoint because they indicate that some microbes contribute to arsenic and antimony mobilization or immobilization in the environment and play a role in arsenic and antimony cycles.
