Arsenate Uptake and Reduction by Pocillopora Verrucosa

A scleractinian coral removed arsenate from solution and converted some of it to arsenite, which reappeared in the ambient seawater. This suggests that organisms other than bacteria may be responsible for maintaining some of the arsenic in seawater in a reduced form. Reduction of arsenate may be a mechanism to allow the loss from the living cell of arsenate transported in along with phosphate.