A New Chemolithoautotrophic Arsenite-Oxidizing Bacterium Isolated from a Gold Mine: Phylogenetic, Physiological, and Preliminary Biochemical Studies

A previously unknown chemolithoautotrophic arsenite-oxidizing bacterium has been isolated from a gold mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The organism, designated NT-26, was found to be a gram-negative motile rod with two subterminal flagella. In a minimal medium containing only arsenite as the electron donor (5 mM), oxygen as the electron acceptor, and carbon dioxide-bicarbonate as the carbon source, the doubling time for chemolithoautotrophic growth was 7.6 h. Arsenite oxidation was found to be catalyzed by a periplasmic arsenite oxidase (optimum pH, 5.5). Based upon 16S rDNA phylogenetic sequence analysis, NT-26 belongs to the Agrobacterium/Rhizobium branch of the α-Proteobacteria and may represent a new species. This recently discovered organism is the most rapidly growing chemolithoautotrophic arsenite oxidizer known.