Role of Acinetobacter sp. in arsenite As(III) oxidation and reducing its mobility in soil

Microbial arsenite oxidation was observed by Acinetobacter sp. XS21, this strain oxidised arsenite As(III) up to 80?mM within 48–72?h of incubation. The present strain XS21 oxidised As(III) at a very high concentration in a shorter interval of time than any of the previous reported microbes. Further, XS21 was applied to the soil to observe its ability in reducing the mobility of As(III), and we found that Acinetobacter sp. XS21 efficiently removed arsenite from soluble-exchangeable fraction and removed 70% of the arsenite as compared to control. This feature makes it a potential candidate for bioremediation. Arsenic-resistant bacteria with strong As(III)-oxidising ability may have potential to improve bioremediation of As(III)-contaminated sites. To understand their basis of resistance and transformation we found the As(III) oxidase gene using degenerate primer and amplified ～550?bp of aioA gene. Amplified aioA gene sequence exhibiting 52% identity in terms of gene and deduced protein sequence to Uncultured bacterium, and Achromobacter sp. arsenite oxidase of larger subunit. Arsenite oxidase, an enzyme, was also observed in this isolate, which may provide a resistance and transforming ability. This bacterium was identified as Acinetobacter sp., by sequencing 16s rRNA gene sequence analysis.