Arsenobetaine is a significant arsenical constituent of the red Antarctic alga Phyllophora antarctica
Marco Grotti A C , Francesco Soggia A , Cristina Lagomarsino A , Walter Goessler B and Kevin A. Francesconi BA Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 31, I-16146 Genova, Italy.
B Karl-Franzens University Graz, Institute of Chemistry-Analytical Chemistry, Universitaetsplatz 1, 8010 Graz, Austria.
C Corresponding author. Email: grotti@chimica.unige.it
Environmental Chemistry 5(3) 171-175 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN08025
Submitted: 14 April 2008 Accepted: 19 May 2008 Published: 19 June 2008
Environmental context. Although arsenic occurs in marine animals at high concentrations, the pathways by which it is biotransformed and accumulated remain largely unknown. The observation that some species of algae can contain significant concentrations of arsenobetaine, a major marine arsenic species, is relevant to explanations of the source of this compound to marine animals and its transport through the marine food web.
Abstract. Significant amounts of arsenobetaine (up to 0.80 μg As g–1 dry mass, representing 17% of the extractable arsenic) were found in the extracts of all four samples of the red alga Phyllophora antarctica collected from two sites in Antarctica (Terra Nova Bay and Cape Evans). The assignment was made with high performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICPMS) based on exact cochromatography with a standard compound with two chromatographic systems (cation-exchange and ion-pairing reversed-phase), each run under two sets of mobile phase conditions. Particular care was taken during sample preparation to ensure that the arsenobetaine was of algal origin and did not result from epiphytes associated with the alga. Another red alga, Iridaea cordata, collected from Terra Nova Bay, did not contain detectable concentrations of arsenobetaine. For both algal species, the majority of the extractable arsenic was present as arsenosugars. Confirmation that marine algae can contain significant amounts of arsenobetaine allows a simpler explanation for the widespread occurrence of this arsenical in marine animals.
Additional keywords: algae, arsenic, marine ecosystems, speciation.
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