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Diversity and abundance of arsenic methylating microorganisms in high arsenic groundwater from Hetao Plain of Inner Mongolia, China

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Abstract

Arsenic methylation is regarded as an effective way of arsenic detoxification. Current knowledge about arsenic biomethylation in high arsenic groundwater remains limited. In the present study, 16 high arsenic groundwater samples from deep wells of the Hetao Plain were investigated using clone library and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses of arsM genes as well as geochemical analysis. The concentrations of methylated arsenic (including monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA)) varied from 2.40 to 16.85 μg/L. Both bacterial and archaeal arsenic methylating populations were detected in the high arsenic aquifer. They were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Methanomicrobia and a large unidentified group. The abundances of predominant populations were correlated positively to either total organic carbon or total arsenic and arsenite concentrations. The arsM gene abundances in high arsenic groundwater ranged from below detection to 5.71 × 106 copies/L and accounted for 0–3.32‰ of total bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes. The arsM gene copies in high arsenic groundwater showed closely positive correlations with methylated arsenic concentrations. The overall results implied that arsenic methylating microorganisms were abundant and diverse in high arsenic groundwater. This was the first study of arsenic methylating microbial communities in high arsenic groundwater aquifers and might provide useful information for arsenic bioremediation in groundwater systems.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41702260, 41702365, 41521001 and 41772260).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

    Yanhong Wang, Ping Li, Han Liu, Dazhun Wei & Yanxin Wang

  2. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

    Zhou Jiang, Helin Wang & Yanxin Wang

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  1. Yanhong Wang
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  2. Ping Li
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  3. Zhou Jiang
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  4. Han Liu
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  7. Yanxin Wang
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Correspondence to Ping Li or Yanxin Wang.

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Wang, Y., Li, P., Jiang, Z. et al. Diversity and abundance of arsenic methylating microorganisms in high arsenic groundwater from Hetao Plain of Inner Mongolia, China. Ecotoxicology 27, 1047–1057 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-018-1958-9

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