ISSN:
1476-5535
Keywords:
Keywords: activated sludge; biological phosphate removal; polyphosphate; Acinetobacter
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
Notes:
The bacterial community of a biological phosphate removal (BPR) activated sludge process was studied and compared to that of a non-BPR process treating the same municipal waste water. Bacterial isolates from the BPR process, as characterized by whole cell fatty acids, belonged to more than twenty genera, with Micrococcus, Staphylococcus and Acidovorax scoring highest. Acinetobacter spp represented 4% of cultured bacteria, ≤3% as estimated by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and well under 10% on the basis of the proportion of ubiquinone Q9 in the sludge. The mole proportions of ubiquinones, Q8 : Q10 : Q9 in the sludge were maintained fairly stable at approximately 9:4:1. The spectra of the isolated strains and the proportions of ubiquinones in the processes (BPR vs non-BPR) were otherwise similar, but a significant number of isolates related to actinomycetes were obtained from the BPR sludge only. The BPR process did not enrich Acinetobacter. Pure cultures of Acinetobacter isolated from the sludge stained for polyphosphate, but Acinetobacter cells responding to the ACA probe in native sludge from the BPR process did not. Instead, the bulk of the polyphosphate in the BPR sludge was located in a distinct morphotype of large, coccoid, highly clustered cells.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sj.jim.2900591
