Microbial community structure and activity in arsenic-, chromium- and copper-contaminated soils.

Microbial community structure, potential microbial activity and As resistance were affected by arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) contamination in soils of abandoned wood impregnating plants. Contaminated soils differed in the concentrations of soil acid-soluble and total water-soluble As, Cr and Cu, and in the concentration of bioavailable As analyzed with a bacterial sensor. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and 16S rRNA gene terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (t-RFLP) profiles indicated that exposure to high metal contamination or subsequent effects of this exposure permanently changed microbial community structure. The total number of colony forming units (CFU) was not affected by metal contamination and the As(V)-resistant bacterial ratio to total heterotrophic plate counts was high (0.5-1.1) and relatively independent of the concentration of As. In contrast, the proportion of As(III)-resistant bacteria was dependent on the concentration of As in the soils and a significant positive relationship was found between the bioavailability of As and the proportion of As(III)-resistant bacteria. Dominant As-resistant isolates from contaminated soils were identified by their fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles as Acinetobacter, Edwardsiella, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Salmonella and Serratia species. No differences were noted in glucose mineralization among contaminated and control soil samples within sites. Based on [(14)C]glucose mineralization the community was able to compensate for the reduced diversity. According to t-RFLP results, this was not due to a reversion towards the unexposed community, but mainly due to the appearance of new dominating species. This study, combining complementary culture-dependent and -independent methods, suggests that microbes are able to respond to soil metal contamination and maintain metabolic activity apparently through changes in microbial community structure and selection for resistance.

Analysis of arsenic bioavailability in contaminated soils.

The bioavailable arsenic (As) content of contaminated soils was determined by joint analyses of acid-soluble, total water-soluble, and biovailable As by using a luminescent bacterial sensor, Escherichia coli MC1061(pTOO31). According to the results of this study, a significant positive correlation was found between the concentration of total water-soluble As and the bioavailability of As. However, the bioavailability of As in soil varied between sampling sites and was not equal when compared to the concentration of total water-soluble As; bioavailable As was 3 to 77% of total water-soluble As in soil. Our experiments also showed that aging and sequestration of As occurs in contaminated soils and As compounds thus become progressively less bioavailable with time. As a consequence, the bioavailability and toxicity of As should be considered when evaluating the ecological risks of contaminated soils.

Role of microbes in controlling the speciation of arsenic and production of arsines in contaminated soils.

The influence of microbes on the speciation of arsenic and production of arsines in contaminated soils was investigated under laboratory conditions. Microbes were able to carry out reactions that resulted in changes in the speciation of arsenic in soil. The transformation of soil dominating species, arsenate [As(V)], under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions to arsenite [As(III)], monomethylarsonic acid [MMAA], dimethylarsinic acid [DMAA] and to volatile trimethylarsine [TMA] was, however, less than 0.5%, of which the production of TMA represented 0.02-0.3%. The volatilization process was also verified in the field, in the soil of a dumping area. The 'life-time' of arsines in air was, however, short and they were rapidly converted back to water soluble species, As(V) and trimethyl arsine oxide (TMAO).