Automated screening of inhibitors of bacterial dissimilatory sulfate reduction

Abstract

An automated assay system was used to screen inhibitors of sulfide formation by sulfate-reducing bacteria. The system used a Technicon AutoAnalyzer II instrument both as an incubation chamber (to combine bacterial cells, substrates, and test compounds) and as an analyzer of the amount of sulfide formed during incubation. A lactate-limited chemostat was used to provide a reproducible inoculum of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans cells. The assay was useful in detecting even small changes in the rate of sulfate reduction resulting from exposure to inhibitors.

Characteristics and Activities of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

“…This has been used extensively when organic compounds are used to isolate bacteria with unique metabolic capability. To screen bacteria for electron donor and electron acceptor combinations, it would be useful to employ an automated assay system previously described by Weimer and Cooling (1991). To obtain a total count of SRB in littoral sediment of Lake Constance, Switzerland, media have been employed that contained H 2 , lactate, acetate, propionate, butyrate, caprylate, succinate, and benzoate as electron donors (Bak and Pfennig, 1991).…”