Be. Rittmann et al., NITRIFICATION AS A SOURCE OF SOLUBLE ORGANIC SUBSTRATE IN BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT, Water science and technology, 30(6), 1994, pp. 1-8
Citations number
23
Categorie Soggetti
Water Resources","Environmental Sciences","Engineering, Civil
In complex, multispecies populations, exchange of substrates can be an
important beneficial interaction. Prior experimental and theoretical
work has led to the hypothesis that the formation of soluble microbial
products (SMP) by nitrifying bacteria can provide a supplementary org
anic substrate for heterotrophic bacteria, thereby augmenting their ac
cumulation and stability, especially when inputs of organic substrates
are low. In this study, chemostat experiments carried out with a NO2-
oxidizing strain (Nitrobacter sp.) and an NH4+-oxidizing strain (Nitro
somonas europaea) demonstrated that both nitrifiers produce SMP that c
an support heterotrophic bacteria. The first evidence was the presence
of significant concentrations of soluble COD in the chemostat effluen
t, even though the influent was free of organic compounds. Second, a s
mall heterotrophic population was maintained, apparently through utili
zation of the nitrifier-produced SMP. A preliminary kinetic analysis s
uggested that SMP kinetic parameters can be adapted from parameters me
asured for heterotrophs.