Identity, abundance and ecophysiology of filamentous bacteria belonging to the Bacteroidetes present in activated sludge plants

Abstract

Filamentous members of the Bacteroidetes are commonly observed in activated sludge samples originating from both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), where they occasionally can cause bulking. Several oligonucleotide 16S rRNA-targeted probes were designed to target filaments with a needle-like appearance similar to Haliscomenobacter hydrossis. The design of these probes was based on an isolate and a sequence obtained from a micromanipulated filament. The abundance of filamentous Bacteroidetes was determined in 126 industrial samples applying already published and the newly developed probes. Small populations were found in 62 % of the WWTP investigated. However, only relatively few WWTP (13 %) contained large populations of filamentous Bacteroidetes potentially responsible for bulking incidences. The identity of the most abundant filamentous Bacteroidetes with H. hydrossis morphology could be detected by probes CFB719, SAP-309 and the newly designed probe HHY-654. A comprehensive study on the ecophysiology of probe-defined Bacteroidetes populations was conducted on Danish and Czech samples. The studies revealed that they were specialized bacteria involved in degradation of sugars, e.g. glucose and N-acetylglucosamine, and may participate in the conversion of lipopolysaccharides and peptidoglycan liberated by decaying cells. Many surface-associated exo-enzymes were excreted, e.g. chitinase, glucuronidase, esterase and phosphatase, supporting conversion of polysaccharides and possibly other released cell components. The role of filamentous bacteria with a H. hydrossis-like morphology in the activated sludge ecosystem is discussed.

Filamentous Bacterium Eikelboom Type 0092 in Activated Sludge Plants in Australia Is a Member of the Phylum Chloroflexi

“…The Neisser negative filaments did not respond to any of the Chloroflexi targeted probes but instead fluoresced with the CFB719 probe designed against the Bacteroidetes. Whether these are the same filaments described by Lemmer et al (30) or Kragelund et al (26) was not examined here.…”

Floating layer formation, foaming, and microbial community structure change in full-scale biogas plant due to disruption of mixing and substrate overloading

“…Filamentous members of the Bacteroidetes phylum have been isolated from many environments [36][37][38][39]. However, little is known about the involvement of these microorganisms in bulking or foaming up until now [40], and the morphology of species from the genus Proteiniphilum was described as rod-shaped [41]. Additionally, a member from the phylum Chloroflexi was identified in the reactors.…”

Integrated multi-omics analyses reveal the biochemical mechanisms and phylogenetic relevance of anaerobic androgen biodegradation in the environment

“…Bacteria belonging to Saprospiraceae (mainly Lewinella) were dominant microorganisms in the anoxic sewage of DHSTP; however, their abundance appeared stable in different treatments. Although most members of Saprospiraceae are marine species, some strains were isolated from activated sludge (Kragelund et al, 2008;Xia et al, 2008;Nielsen et al, 2009). The members of Saprospiraceae are capable of hydrolyzing complex carbon sources, including carbohydrates and proteins (Kämpfer, 1995;Xia et al, 2007).…”