Population Structure and Abundance of Arsenite-Oxidizing Bacteria along an Arsenic Pollution Gradient in Waters of the Upper Isle River Basin, France

Marianne Quéméneur (1, 2) , Aurélie Cébron (2) , Patrick Billard (2) , Fabienne Battaglia-Brunet (1) , Françis Garrido (1) , Corinne Leyval (2) , Catherine Joulian (1)

1 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
2 LIMOS - Laboratoire des Interactions Microorganismes-Minéraux-Matière Organique dans les sols

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were successfully developed to monitor functional aoxB genes as markers of aerobic arsenite oxidizers. DGGE profiles showed a shift in the structure of the aoxB-carrying bacterial population, composed of members of the Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria, depending on arsenic (As) and Eh levels in Upper Isle River Basin waters. The highest aoxB gene densities were found in the most As-polluted oxic surface waters but without any significant correlation with environmental factors. Arsenite oxidizers seem to play a key role in As mobility in As-impacted waters.

Domains: Environmental Sciences

Marianne Quéméneur, Aurélie Cébron, Patrick Billard, Fabienne Battaglia-Brunet, Françis Garrido, et al.. Population Structure and Abundance of Arsenite-Oxidizing Bacteria along an Arsenic Pollution Gradient in Waters of the Upper Isle River Basin, France. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2010, 76 (13), p. 4566-4570. ⟨10.1128/AEM.03104-09⟩. ⟨hal-00559237⟩