Relative mass of elements and relative amount of elements in arsenic-tolerant bacteria in sponge Theonella swinhoei

Range Table - link %
Organism bacteria
Reference Keren R, Lavy A, Mayzel B, Ilan M. Culturable associated-bacteria of the sponge Theonella swinhoei show tolerance to high arsenic concentrations. Front Microbiol. 2015 Feb 25 6: 154. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00154. p.7 figure 3EPubMed ID25762993
Method P.2 left column 3rd paragraph: "To test the hypothesis that T. swinhoei harbors associated-bacteria that contribute to the accumulation process of arsenic and barium in their host, the concentration of these elements was measured and compared in sponge-cells-enriched and bacteria-enriched fractions. Additionally, the high arsenic concentration within the sponge led to the hypothesis that sponge-associated bacteria would be tolerant to arsenic. To that end, sponge-derived bacteria were inoculated onto culturing media containing either arsenate or arsenite, in order to investigate the bacterial community that may survive and even thrive in the presence of this highly toxic element."
Comments P.5 left column bottom paragraph: "The arsenic precipitating OTUs (operational taxonomic units) were identified as TSASRA003 (Figure 3A) and TSASRA026 (Figure 3B). The colony of TSASRA003 was completely covered by a layer of precipitate. SEM [scanning electron microscope] image of the colony center showed a dense mineral layer with bacterial cells only noticeable at the periphery (Figure 3A, red arrow). The mineral covering the colony had a needle-like morphology (Figure 3A, yellow arrow and Figure 3C). The colony of TSASRA026 was also fully covered by precipitate but had a glassy veneer. Similar to TSASRA003, bacterial cells were only noticeable at the periphery of the colony (Figure 3B, red arrow). The colony’s center portrayed the same dense coverage of the needle-like crystal as the major mineral (Figure 3B, yellow arrow), though an additional second hexagonal mineral was also observed (Figure 3D). The secondary mineral had higher levels of sulfur and calcium (data not shown). Although the bacteria have different taxonomic identification (Table 2), both precipitated the same needle-like mineral crystals (Figure 3C) enriched for arsenic and magnesium (Figure 3E), at a ratio approximately 1:3 (As:Mg, Atomic%)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 113274