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Antimony biomethylation by mixed cultures of micro‐organisms under anaerobic conditions
Author(s) -
Jenkins R. O.,
Craig P. J.,
Miller D. P.,
Stoop L. C. A. M.,
Ostah N.,
Morris T.A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0739(199806)12:6<449::aid-aoc719>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - chemistry , antimony , gas chromatography , enrichment culture , environmental chemistry , mass spectrometry , chromatography , bacteria , inorganic chemistry , biology , genetics
The volatile antimony compound trimethylantimony (TMA) was detected in headspace gases over anaerobic soil enrichment cultures spiked with potassium antimony tartrate. The presence of TMA was variable (12 positives from 104 cultures) and dependent upon both the inoculum source (environmental sample) and enrichment culture conditions. Positives for TMA formation were obtained with variable frequency for four of the six soils tested and for three types of enrichment culture, designed to encourage growth of nitrate‐reducing, methane‐producing or fermentative bacteria. The identity of the volatile antimony compound produced in each of the three types of enrichment culture was confirmed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–atomic absorption spectroscopy. There was no evidence of any other volatile antimony compound in the headspace gases. These data suggest that the capability to generate TMA is widely distributed in the terrestrial environment and is attributable to different metabolic types of micro‐organisms. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.