High Arsenic Levels Increase Activity Rather than Diversity or Abundance of Arsenic Metabolism Genes in Paddy Soils
Siyu Zhang, Xiao Xiao, Song‐Can Chen, Yong‐Guan Zhu, Guo‐Xin Sun, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Abstract
Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid pervasively present in the environment. Microorganisms have evolved the capacity to metabolize As, and As metabolism genes are ubiquitously present in the environment even in the absence of high concentrations of As. However, these previous studies were carried out at the DNA level; thus, the activity of the As metabolism genes detected remains essentially speculative. Here, we show that the high As levels in paddy soils increased the transcriptional activity rather than the relative DNA abundance and diversity of As metabolism genes. These findings advance our understanding of how microbes respond to and cope with high As levels and have implications for better monitoring and managing an important toxic metalloid in agricultural soils and possibly other ecosystems.