Arsenic distribution and metabolism genes abundance in Paddy soils from Punjab and Sindh provinces, Pakistan

Arsenic (As) is naturally found in the Earth’s crust at certain concentration above which it refers as toxic. Due to various anthropogenic activities as well as natural processes, As concentration reaches the threshold level. The fate of As in soil is influenced by biotransformation, immobilization, confinement process, and soil properties. The aim of the present study was to examine the levels and species of As, metabolism genes, and correlation with paddy soils’ physico-chemical characteristics from Punjab and Sindh provinces, Pakistan. Results of the present study revealed the presence of significant levels of As and metabolism genes in different areas of Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan. The level of total As ranged 6–80 μg/kg, and relatively low levels of mono-As, di-As, and Tri-As were found in paddy soils. Higher abundance of arsM were recorded 1.5 × 10 4 (copy number/g) compared with other genes, suggesting arsM role in As biotransformation. Redundancy analysis (RDA) shows significant relationship of (i) aioA and arsM with Tri-As and organic matter (OM) and (ii) arrA with As and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). The results suggest that the occurrence of As-methylated species in paddy soils is due to microorganisms and greatly influenced by the physico-chemical properties of paddy soils. The results will be helpful to higher authorities for the management of As-contaminated paddy soils in Pakistan.

[1]  Asif Javed,et al.  Continuous use of arsenic contaminated irrigation water: A future threat to sustainable agriculture in Pakistan , 2016 .

[2]  Suduan Gao,et al.  Environmental Factors Affecting Rates of Arsine Evolution from and Mineralization of Arsenicals in Soil , 1997 .

[3]  S. Waters,et al.  Elucidating the pathway for arsenic methylation. , 2004, Toxicology and applied pharmacology.

[4]  Sanjrani Ma,et al.  Current Situation of Aqueous Arsenic Contamination in Pakistan, Focused on Sindh and Punjab Province, Pakistan: A Review , 2017 .

[5]  W. Suda,et al.  Effect of antibiotics on redox transformations of arsenic and diversity of arsenite-oxidizing bacteria in sediment microbial communities. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  M. Vahter.  Mechanisms of arsenic biotransformation. , 2002, Toxicology.

[7]  A. Farooqi,et al.  Toxic fluoride and arsenic contaminated groundwater in the Lahore and Kasur districts, Punjab, Pakistan and possible contaminant sources. , 2007, Environmental pollution.

[8]  Jen‐How Huang,et al.  Demethylation of Dimethylarsinic Acid and Arsenobetaine in Different Organic Soils , 2007 .

[9]  Jizhong Zhou,et al.  Arsenic methylation in soils and its relationship with microbial arsM abundance and diversity, and as speciation in rice. , 2013, Environmental science & technology.

[10]  Q. Shen,et al.  Efficient Arsenic Methylation and Volatilization Mediated by a Novel Bacterium from an Arsenic-Contaminated Paddy Soil. , 2016, Environmental science & technology.

[11]  X. Le,et al.  Biotransformation of arsenic by a Yellowstone thermoacidophilic eukaryotic alga , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[12]  D. Nordstrom,et al.  Arsenic Speciation and Sorption in Natural Environments , 2014 .

[13]  R. Bernier-Latmani,et al.  Arsenic Methylation Dynamics in a Rice Paddy Soil Anaerobic Enrichment Culture. , 2017, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  T. Kazi,et al.  Evaluation of arsenic levels in grain crops samples, irrigated by tube well and canal water. , 2011, Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association.

[15]  John F. Stolz,et al.  The Ecology of Arsenic , 2003, Science.

[16]  Yunfeng Yang,et al.  Land scale biogeography of arsenic biotransformation genes in estuarine wetland , 2017, Environmental microbiology.

[17]  V. Bonnefoy,et al.  How prokaryotes deal with arsenic(†). , 2011, Environmental microbiology reports.

[18]  R. Siddiqui,et al.  Sources of Arsenic and Fluoride in Highly Contaminated Soils Causing Groundwater Contamination in Punjab, Pakistan , 2009, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[19]  Biogas slurry application elevated arsenic accumulation in rice plant through increased arsenic release and methylation in paddy soil , 2013, Plant and Soil.

[20]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Microbial mediated arsenic biotransformation in wetlands , 2017, Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.

[21]  K. Hattori,et al.  Arsenic behavior in paddy fields during the cycle of flooded and non-flooded periods. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[22]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Diversity and abundance of arsenic biotransformation genes in paddy soils from southern China. , 2015, Environmental science & technology.

[23]  J. A. Baig,et al.  Determination of arsenic levels in lake water, sediment, and foodstuff from selected area of Sindh, Pakistan: estimation of daily dietary intake. , 2009, Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association.

[24]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Arsenic uptake by rice is influenced by microbe-mediated arsenic redox changes in the rhizosphere. , 2014, Environmental science & technology.

[25]  A. Hirner,et al.  Methylated arsenic, antimony and tin species in soils. , 2005, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[26]  J. G. Lauren,et al.  Food Chain Aspects of Arsenic Contamination in Bangladesh: Effects on Quality and Productivity of Rice , 2003, Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering.

[27]  M. Brusseau,et al.  Quantification of inorganic arsenic exposure and cancer risk via consumption of vegetables in southern selected districts of Pakistan. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[28]  Heqing Shen,et al.  Extensive arsenic contamination in high-pH unconfined aquifers in the Indus Valley , 2017, Science Advances.

[29]  M. Z. Hashmi,et al.  Arsenic in Untreated and Treated Manure: Sources, Biotransformation, and Environmental Risk in Application on Soils: A Review , 2018 .

[30]  M. T. Wong,et al.  Arsenic Methylation and its Relationship to Abundance and Diversity of arsM Genes in Composting Manure , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[31]  M. F. Hossain.  Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh : An overview , 2006 .

[32]  R. Oremland,et al.  Bacterial respiration of arsenic and selenium. , 1999, FEMS microbiology reviews.

[33]  Anders Lagerkvist,et al.  Stabilization of As, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn in soil using amendments--a review. , 2008, Waste management.

[34]  J. Andrews,et al.  Arsenic localization, speciation, and co-occurrence with iron on rice (Oryza sativa L.) roots having variable Fe coatings. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[35]  Yan-xin Wang,et al.  Microbial communities involved in arsenic mobilization and release from the deep sediments into groundwater in Jianghan plain, Central China. , 2017, The Science of the total environment.

[36]  S. Matsumoto,et al.  Effects of arsenic compound amendment on arsenic speciation in rice grain. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[37]  W. Cullen,et al.  Comparative toxicity of trivalent and pentavalent inorganic and methylated arsenicals in rat and human cells , 2000, Archives of Toxicology.

[38]  Yong-guan Zhu,et al.  Arsenic speciation and volatilization from flooded paddy soils amended with different organic matters. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[39]  P. Bao,et al.  Metagenomic analysis revealed highly diverse microbial arsenic metabolism genes in paddy soils with low-arsenic contents. , 2016, Environmental pollution.

[40]  R. N. Malik,et al.  Human exposure to arsenic in groundwater from Lahore district, Pakistan. , 2015, Environmental toxicology and pharmacology.

[41]  Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman,et al.  Chronic exposure of arsenic via drinking water and its adverse health impacts on humans , 2009, Environmental geochemistry and health.

[42]  J. Tamames,et al.  Microbial responses to environmental arsenic , 2009, BioMetals.

[43]  R. Naidu,et al.  Microbial formation of volatile arsenic in cattle dip site soils contaminated with arsenic and DDT , 2004 .

[44]  Guoxin Sun,et al.  A review on completing arsenic biogeochemical cycle: microbial volatilization of arsines in environment. , 2014, Journal of environmental sciences.