The reduction of trimethylarsine oxide by Candida humicola
Trimethylarsine oxide, a probable intermediate in the biological transformation of arsenate, was reduced to volatile trimethylarsine by Candida humicola. A simple assay for the rate of trimethylarsine production from trimethylarsine oxide by the fungus was developed. The optimum pH for the reduction was determined as 5.1–5.2, and the optimum temperature was 40 °C. The rate of reduction was directly proportional to cell concentration and followed Michaelis–Menten type kinetics. There was almost no trimethylarsine produced by heated or broken cells. The reaction was inhibited by a number of electron transport inhibitors and uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation including cyanide, azide, and 2,4-dinitrophenol. The rate of reduction was modified by arsenate, methylarsonate, dimethylarsinate, selenate, and tellurate. Preincubation of cells with trimethylarsine oxide increased the rate of reduction 69-fold; this increase in activity was blocked if the cells were incubated with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide.