Microorganisms
play an important role in altering antimony (Sb)
speciation, mobility, and bioavailability, but the understanding of
the microorganisms responsible for Sb(V) reduction has been limited.
In this study, DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) and metagenomics
analysis were combined to identify potential Sb(V)-reducing bacteria
(SbRB) and predict their metabolic pathways for Sb(V) reduction. Soil
slurry cultures inoculated with Sb-contaminated paddy soils from two
Sb-contaminated sites demonstrated the capability to reduce Sb(V).
DNA-SIP identified bacteria belonging to the genera Pseudomonas and Geobacter as putative SbRB in these two Sb-contaminated
sites. In addition, bacteria such as Lysinibacillus and Dechloromonas may potentially participate in
Sb(V) reduction. Nearly complete draft genomes of putative SbRB (i.e., Pseudomonas and Geobacter) were obtained,
and the genes potentially responsible for arsenic (As) and Sb reduction
(i.e., respiratory arsenate reductase (arrA) and
antimonate reductase (anrA)) were examined. Notably,
bins affiliated with Geobacter contained arrA and anrA genes, supporting our hypothesis
that they are putative SbRB. Further, pangenomic analysis indicated
that various Geobacter-associated genomes obtained
from diverse habitats also contained arrA and anrA genes. In contrast, Pseudomonas may
use a predicted DMSO reductase closely related to sbrA (Sb(V) reductase gene) clade II to reduce Sb(V), which may need
further experiments to verify. This current work represents a demonstration
of using DNA-SIP and metagenomic-binning to identify SbRB and their
key genes involved in Sb(V) reduction and provides valuable data sets
to link bacterial identities with Sb(V) reduction.