THE IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF ACINETOBACTER STRAINS EXHIBITING VARIATIONS IN PHOSPHATE ACCUMULATION BY SDS-PAGE AND NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS

The limitation of phosphate concentrations in effluents is of internat ional concern because of the risk of eutrophication. Acinetobacter spp . have often been isolated from activated sludge plants exhibiting enh anced phosphate removal. The ability to remove phosphate from mixed li quor by Acinetobacter isolates and reference strains was, therefore, d etermined. The ability to remove phosphate was found to vary among the Acinetobacter strains. The taxonomic relationships among these variou s strains were elucidated by SDS-PAGE and numerical analysis, and the correlation between their taxonomy and phosphate uptake ability was de termined. The ability to remove large amounts of phosphate was found t o be strain specific rather than species specific. The classification of A. haemolyticus and A. baumannii as separate species is questioned.