海産動物に遍在するヒ素化合物アルセノベタインとその微生物分解

抄録

Arsenic compounds were extracted with chloroform/methanol/water from tissues of marine animals (four carnivores, five herbivores, five plankton feeders). The extracts were purified by cation and anion exchange chromatography. Arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinic acid, trimethylarsine oxide and arsenite, arsenate and methylarsonic acid as a group with the same retention time were identified by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Arsenobetaine found in all the animals was almost always the most abundant arsenic compound in the extracts. These results show that arsenobetaine is present in marine animals independently of their feeding habits and trophic levels.

Arsenobetaine-containing growth media (ZoBell 2216E; solution of inorganic salts) were mixed with coastal marine sediments as the source of micro-organisms. Arsenobetaine was converted in both media to trimethylarsine oxide and trimethylarsine oxide was converted to arsenite, arsenate or methylarsonic acid. The conversion rates in the inorganic medium were faster than in the ZoBell medium.