Zhang Xu, Yu Xiumin, Xie Qinjian, Li Hongyu
Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 73000, China.
Wei Sheng Wu Xue Bao. 2008 Mar;48(3):408-12.
Arsenic is widely distributed in the environment. As teratogen, carcinogen or mutagen, it has extremely toxic effect on mammalian health. Recently, as the outbreaks of arsenicosis in many countries such as Bangladesh and China, arsenic toxicity or pollution has been a global problem, severely threatening tens of millions of people's health. Therefore, studies on the transfer of arsenic toxicity or pollution are important. The threat of pollution and toxicity from the dispersal of naturally occurring and anthropogenic arsenic stimulated extensive studies focusing on the geochemical behaviors, such as mobilization and transformation of arsenic. More evidences suggest that microbes play an important role in the geochemical circulation of arsenic. Some microorganisms have evolved to tolerate relatively high concentrations of arsenic by methylation and/or redox. These microbial processes, together with inorganic and physical processes, constitute the global cycle of arsenic. In this article, we review the diversity of microorganisms known to interact with arsenic, and the genes and enzymes involved in these processes. We also briefly discuss the application of arsenic bio-transformation is. Finally, according to the studies in our laboratory, we propose the potential application in medical sciences and its future prospects.
砷在环境中广泛分布。作为致畸剂、致癌物或诱变剂，它对哺乳动物健康具有极大的毒性作用。近年来，随着孟加拉国和中国等许多国家砷中毒事件的爆发，砷毒性或污染已成为一个全球性问题，严重威胁着数千万人的健康。因此，关于砷毒性或污染转移的研究具有重要意义。天然存在的和人为产生的砷的扩散所造成的污染和毒性威胁促使人们开展了广泛的研究，重点关注砷的地球化学行为，如砷的迁移和转化。越来越多的证据表明，微生物在砷的地球化学循环中起着重要作用。一些微生物已经通过甲基化和/或氧化还原作用进化出耐受相对高浓度砷的能力。这些微生物过程与无机和物理过程共同构成了砷的全球循环。在本文中，我们综述了已知与砷相互作用的微生物的多样性，以及参与这些过程的基因和酶。我们还简要讨论了砷生物转化的应用。最后，根据我们实验室的研究，我们提出了其在医学科学中的潜在应用及其未来前景。
