Soil Microbial Communities Involved in Reductive Dissolution of Arsenic from Arsenate-Laden Minerals with Different Carbon Sources

The natural microbial communities involved in arsenic (As) extraction under biostimulated conditions are still unclear. In this study, soil slurry was incubated with arsenate [As(V)]-laden Fe(III) or Al (hydr)oxides with lactate or acetate. After 40 d, dissolved As released from As(V)-laden Fe(III) accounted for 54% of the initial solid-phase As in lactate-amended slurries, while much less As was released from acetate-amended slurries. As was released more rapidly from As(V)-laden Al, but the total release was relatively low (45%). High-throughput Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes revealed that dissimilatory metal(loid) reducers such as Desulfitobacterium became predominant in lactate-amended slurries. Moreover, anaerobic fermenters in the Sporomusaceae family were predominant. Interestingly, a Sporomusaceae bacterial strain isolated from the slurry was capable of releasing As from both As(V)-laden (hydr)oxides in the presence of lactate. The strain first released As as As(V) and subsequently reduced it to As(III) in the aqueous phase. These results suggest that lactate is a suitable carbon source for As extraction by natural microbial communities, and that both dissimilatory metal(loid) reducers and certain anaerobic fermenters play significant roles in As extraction. Microbial reductive dissolution of As may be expected to be a cost-effective restoration technique for As-contaminated soils.