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Modeling Phosphate Influence on Arsenate Reduction Kinetics by a Freshwater Cyanobacterium

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Abstract

Arsenic speciation in natural surface-water systems can be highly impacted through biological processes that result in non-thermodynamically predicted species to dominate the system. In laboratory experiments, arsenate reduction by a freshwater cyanobacterium exhibited saturation kinetics increasingly inhibited by elevating solution phosphate concentrations. Approximately 100% arsenate reduction occurred by days 4, 7, and 10 in the low (0.35 µm), middle (3.5 µm), and high (35 µm) phosphate treatments, respectively, with maximum arsenate reduction rates ranged from 0.013 μmol As g C−1 day−1 in the high-phosphate treatment to 0.398 μmol As g C−1 day−1 in the low-phosphate treatment. Saturation kinetic models were utilized to evaluate the impact of cell growth and arsenate-phosphate uptake competition on arsenate reduction rates by the cyanobacterium. Results showed reduced arsenicals dominate arsenic speciation once growth reached steady state, indicating reduced arsenicals may dominate natural systems, even when considering conservatively high, abiotic arsenic reoxidation.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the various sources of funding I have received. Thanks to the Texas Water Resource Institute for the 2003–2004 W. C. Mills Fellowship. Thanks to the College of Engineering for the 2003–2004 Graduate Assistantship in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship funded by the US Department of Education. Final thanks to the Texas Advanced Research Program: Project No. 010366-0364-1999. Research for this study was conducted while all authors were enrolled and/or employed at Texas A&M University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, MS: EBB 2-BO2, Washington, DC, 20555-0001, USA

    Christopher T. Markley

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3115, USA

    Bruce E. Herbert

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  1. Christopher T. Markley
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  2. Bruce E. Herbert
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Correspondence to Christopher T. Markley.

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Markley, C.T., Herbert, B.E. Modeling Phosphate Influence on Arsenate Reduction Kinetics by a Freshwater Cyanobacterium. Environ Model Assess 15, 361–368 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-009-9212-8

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