A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus

josey_whale · 02-12-2010 11:15PM #1

A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus [Sciencemag.org]

There is a report on the paper in Nature News

So it seems they can substitute phosphate for arsenic. In the periodic table the two elements are very closely related - one of the reasons why arsenic is so toxic to most organisms is because it can use phosphate's transport mechanism to get into cells.

Very interesting stuff.

Capt'n Midnight · 03-12-2010 02:57AM

Interesting that an organism is able to do that to such an extent.

Horseshoe crabs use copper instead of Iron in their blood. And IIRC there are photosnthesysers that use replacements for Magnesium.

Many of the nastiest radioactive isotopes are those that are taken up by the body because they are chemically similar to the elements the body would normally use. eg. Strontium instead of Calcium

Regarding toxicity, carbon monoxide , hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen cyanide all bind more tightly to haemoglobin that oxygen does, so they are deadly poisons to aerobes (organisms that rely on oxygen to burn their energy source) but are relatively inocoulus to anerobes that don't use oxygen.

Capt'n Midnight · 04-12-2010 12:24AM

A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus

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