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Response of growth and superoxide dismutase to enhanced arsenic in two Bacillus species

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Abstract

Species differences in inorganic arsenic tolerance were investigated by comparing the responses of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Bacillus thuringiensis (B. thuringiensis) to elevated concentrations of As(III) and As(V). The cell densities in treatments were always lower during the experiment compared to controls, with the exception of exposure to 1.0 mg As(V) l−1 on the first day. It was also found that relative growth rate (RGR) of B. thuringiensis was lower than that of B. subtilis. Furthermore, RGR of each Bacillus species was negative correlation with toxicity of inorganic arsenic. However, total cell number still increased in each treatment according to cell density and RGR assays. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of both Bacillus species was promoted by As(III) and As(V), especially under high arsenic concentration condition. In addition, SOD activity of B. thuringiensis was higher than that of B. subtilis during the same exposure time. In lipid peroxidation assay, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) content of each Bacillus species had a significant increase with increment of arsenic concentration. Moreover, significant difference was observed between the two Bacillus species under high arsenic concentration. TBARS content of B. thuringiensis was higher than that of B. subtilis, indicating that effect of arsenic on cell membranes of B. thuringiensis was much more than that of B. subtilis. These results suggest that the two Bacillus species could adapt and live in high arsenic aquifers, although their growth and cell membranes were affected by As treatment in a way.

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Acknowledgments

The research work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41172219, 41120124003, 40830748, 40425001 and 40830748), the Special Fund for Basic Scientific Research of Central Colleges, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (CUGL090220), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2008DFA20950) and the 111 project (B08030).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Zuoming Xie, Xiaoyan Sun, Yanxin Wang, Yan Luo, Xianjun Xie & Chunli Su

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  1. Zuoming Xie
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  2. Xiaoyan Sun
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Correspondence to Yanxin Wang.

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Xie, Z., Sun, X., Wang, Y. et al. Response of growth and superoxide dismutase to enhanced arsenic in two Bacillus species. Ecotoxicology 23, 1922–1929 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1318-3

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