Characteristics of bacteria selected as inocula for the biodegradation of low concentrations of an organic compound
A study was conducted to determine some physiological characteristics of bacteria that differ in their abilities to degrade low concentrations of p-nitrophenol (PNP) and to relate the differences in activity among species in pure culture to their behavior in environmental samples. The growth rates, threshold for growth and mineralization of PNP, response to phosphorus and other organic substrates, including dissolved organic carbon, and metabolic products of four bacteria capable of degrading PNP were determined. Pseudomanas sp. SP3 and Pseudomonas sp. K had similar growth rates at low concentrations of PNP but differed in their abilities to transform the chemical in culture. No significant increase in the growth rate of Pseudomonas sp. SP3 in solutions with 1, 10 and 100 ng of PNP per ml was observed, suggesting that its growth was at the expense of contaminating carbon. However, the strain formed organic products at 1 ng of PNP per ml, and it degraded 10 and 100 ng of PNP per ml appreciably. Flavobacterium sp. M1 had the highest growth rate among the four strains, but its growth and mineralization were inhibited by high PNP concentrations. In samples of an oligotrophic lake water inoculated with Pseudomonas sp. K, Flavobacterium sp. M1 and Pseudomonas sp. SP3, the rate of disappearance of 1 ng of PNP per ml correlated with the growth rates of the organisms in culture, but only during the first phase of the biphasic curve. Pseudomonas sp. K exhibited a threshold in culture but not in samples of lake and well water. Thus, growth characteristics in culture did not adequately prewater. Thus, growth characteristics in culture did not adequately predict the mineralization rates of low levels of PNP in samples of natural environments that were inoculated. Flavobacterium sp. M4, which had a threshold for growth at 2 ng of PNP per ml, degraded PNP in culture and in samples of an oligotrophic lake water at a higher rate and to a greater extent than Pseudomonas sp. K.
- Research Organization:
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 5241130
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
EVALUATION
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
MINERALIZATION
MULTI-PARAMETER ANALYSIS
NITRO COMPOUNDS
NITROPHENOL
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS