Aims:  To analyse the arsenic‐resistant bacterial communities of two agricultural soils of Bangladesh, to isolate arsenic‐resistant bacteria, to study their potential role in arsenic transformation and to investigate the genetic determinants for arsenic resistance among the isolates. Methods and Results:  Enrichment cultures were performed in a minimal medium in the presence of As(III) and As(V) to isolate resistant bacteria. Twenty‐one arsenic‐resistant bacteria belonging to different genera of Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria were isolated. The isolates, with the exception of Oceanimonas doudoroffii Dhal Rw, reduced 2 mmol l−1 As(V) completely to As(III) in aerobic conditions. Putative gene fragments for arsenite efflux pumps were amplified in isolates from Dhal soil and a putative arsenate reductase gene fragment was amplified from a Bacillus sp. from Rice soil. Conclusions:  Phylogenetically diverse arsenic‐resistant bacteria present in agricultural soils of Bangladesh are capable of reducing arsenate to arsenite under aerobic conditions apparently for detoxification purpose. Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study provides results on identification, levels of arsenic resistance and reduction of arsenate by the bacterial isolates which could play an important role in arsenic cycling in the two arsenic‐contaminated soils in Bangladesh.

Two heterotrophic As(III)-oxidizing bacteria, SPB-24 and SPB-31 were isolated from garden soil. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain SPB-24 was closely related to genus Bordetella, and strain SPB-31 was most closely related to genus Achromobacter. Both strains exhibited high As(III) (15 mM for SPB-24 and 40 mM for SPB-31) and As(V) (>300 mM for both strains) resistance. Both strains oxidized 5 mM As(III) in minimal medium with oxidation rate of 554 and 558 μM h(-1) for SPB-24 and SPB-31, respectively. Washed cells of both strains oxidized As(III) over broad pH and temperature range with optimum pH 6 and temperature 42°C for both strains. The As(III) oxidation kinetic by washed cells showed K (m) and V (max) values of 41.7 μM and 1,166 μM h(-1) for SPB-24, 52 μM and 1,186 μM h(-1) for SPB-31. In the presence of minimal amount of carbon source, the strains showed high As(III) oxidation rate and high specific arsenite oxidase activity. The ability of strains to resist high concentration of arsenic and oxidize As(III) with highest rates reported so far makes them potential candidates for bioremediation of arsenic-contaminated environment.

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Nutrient availability in nature influenced the microbial ecology and behavior present in existing environment. In this study, we have focused on isolation of arsenic-oxidizing cultures from arsenic devoid environment and studied effect of carbon starvation on rate of arsenite oxidation. In spite of the absence of arsenic, a total of 40 heterotrophic, aerobic, arsenic-transforming bacterial strains representing 18 different genera were identified. Nineteen bacterial species were isolated from tannery effluent and twenty-one from tannery soil. A strong co-relation between the carbon starvation and arsenic oxidation potential of the isolates obtained from the said niche was observed. Interestingly, low carbon content enhanced the arsenic oxidation ability of the strains across different genera in Proteobacteria obtained. This represents the impact of physiological response of carbon metabolism under metal stress conditions. Enhanced arsenic-oxidizing ability of the strains was validated by the presence of aio gene and RT-PCR, where 0.5- to 26-fold up-regulation of arsenite oxidase gene in different genera was observed. The cultures isolated from tannery environment in this study show predominantly arsenic oxidation ability. This detoxification of arsenic in lack of carbon content can aid in effective in situ arsenic bioremediation.