Arsenic and its species were investigated for the first time in nine collections of Elaphomyces spp. (“deer truffles”) from the Czech Republic with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ICPMS. The total arsenic concentrations ranged from 12 to 42 mg kg⁻¹ dry mass in samples of E. asperulus and from 120 to 660 mg kg⁻¹ dry mass in E. granulatus and E. muricatus. These concentrations are remarkably high for terrestrial organisms and demonstrate the arsenic-accumulating ability of these fungi. The dominating arsenic species in all samples was methylarsonic acid which accounted for more than 30% of the extractable arsenic. Arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinic acid, and inorganic arsenic were present as well, but only at trace concentrations. Surprisingly, we found high amounts of trimethylarsine oxide in all samples (0.32–28% of the extractable arsenic). Even more remarkable was that all but two samples contained significant amounts of the highly toxic trivalent arsenic compound methylarsonous acid (0.08–0.73% of the extractable arsenic). This is the first report of the occurrence of trimethylarsine oxide and methylarsonous acid at significant concentrations in a terrestrial organism. Our findings point out that there is still a lot to be understood about the biotransformation pathways of arsenic in the terrestrial environment.

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首次在九个蜡霉菌属收藏品中研究了砷及其种类。（“鹿松露”）来自捷克共和国，采用电感耦合等离子体质谱 (ICPMS) 和与 ICPMS 联用的高效液相色谱法。E. asperulus样品中的总砷浓度范围为 12 至 42 mg kg ^-1干质量，而E. 细粒E. muricatus样品中的总砷浓度范围为 120 至 660 mg kg ^-1干质量。对于陆生生物来说，这些浓度非常高，并证明了这些真菌的砷积累能力。所有样品中的主要砷形态是甲基胂酸，占可萃取砷的30%以上。砷甜菜碱、二甲基胂酸和无机砷也存在，但浓度仅为痕量。令人惊讶的是，我们在所有样品中都发现了大量的三甲基胂氧化物（占可萃取砷的 0.32-28%）。更值得注意的是，除两个样品外，所有样品均含有大量剧毒三价砷化合物甲基胂酸（占可萃取砷的 0.08-0.73%）。这是首次报道陆地生物中存在高浓度的三甲基胂氧化物和甲基胂酸。我们的研究结果表明，关于砷在陆地环境中的生物转化途径还有很多需要了解的地方。

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