Dynamic Growth Rates of Microbial Populations in Activated Sludge Systems
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 12
Abstract
Results of mathematical modeling and whole cell 16S ribosomal RNA-targeted fluorescence in situ hybridizations challenge the widely held perception that microbial populations in “steady-state” activated sludge systems share a common net growth rate that is proportional to the inverse of the mean cell residence time. Our results are significant because they encourage bioprocess engineers to appreciate the differences in growth physiology among individual microbial populations in complex mixed microbial communities such as suspended growth activated sludge bioreactor systems.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the Cincinnati Metropolitan Sanitary District for their assistance in gathering samples. Mr. Stroot would like to thank the University of Cincinnati for supporting his research through the University Research Council Fellowship Award.
References
American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation (APHA/AWWA/WEF). (1998). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th Ed., APHA, Washington, D.C.
Baltzis, B. C., and Fredrickson, A. G. (1988). “Limitation of growth rate by two complementary nutrients: Some elementary but neglected considerations.” Biotechnol. Bioeng., 31, 75–86.
Boon, N., Goris, J., De Vos, P., Verstraete, W., and Top, E. M. (2000). “Bioaugmentation of activated sludge by an indigenous 3- chloroaniline-degrading Comamonas testosteroni strain, I2gfp.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 66, 2906–2913.
Canstein, H. V., Kelly, S., Li, Y., and Wagner-Dobler, I. (2002). “Species diversity improves the efficiency of mercury-reducing biofilms under changing environmental conditions.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 68, 2829–2837.
Eichner, C. A., Erb, R. W., Timmis, K. N., and Wagner-Dobler, I. (1999). “Thermal gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of bioprotection from pollutant shocks in the activated sludge microbial community.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 65, 102–109.
Fernandez, A., Huang, S., Seston, S., Xing, J., Hickey, R., Criddle, C., and Tiedje, J. (1999). “How stable is stable? Function versus community composition.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 65(8), 3697–3704.
Forney, L. J., Liu, W. T., Guckert, J. B., Kumagai, Y., Namkung, E., Nishihara, T., and Larson, R. J. (2001). “Structure of microbial communities in activated sludge: Potential implications for assessing the biodegradability of chemicals.” Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 49, 40–53.
Gujer, W., Henze, M., Mino, T., and Loosdrecht, M. V. (1998). “Activated sludge model No. 3.” Scientific and Technical Rep. No. 9, International Water Association, London.
Henze, M., Grady, C. P. L., Gujer, W., Marais, G. vR., and Matsuo, T. (1987). “A general-model for single-sludge waste-water treatment systems.” Water Res., 21(5), 505–515.
Henze, M., Grady, C. P. L., Gujer, W., Marais, G. vR., and Matsuo, T. (1988). “Activated sludge model No. 1.” IAWPRC Scientific and Technical Rep. No. 1, International Association of Water Pollution Research and Control, London.
Henze, M., Gujer, W., Mino, T., Matsuo, T., Wentzel, M. C., and Marais, G. vR. (1995). “Activated sludge model No. 2.” IAWQ Scientific and Technical Rep. No. 3, International Association of Water Quality, London.
Huisman, J., and Weissing, F. (1999). “Biodiversity of plankton by species oscillations and chaos.” Nature (London), 402(25), 407–410.
Huisman, J., and Weissing, F. (2000). “Coexistence and resource competition.” Nature (London), 407, 694.
Huisman, J., and Weissing, F. (2001). “Fundamental unpredictability in multispecies competition.” Am. Nat., 157, 488–494.
Kaewplpat, K., and Grady, C. P. L. (2002). “Microbial population dynamics in laboratory-scale activated sludge reactors.” Water Sci. Technol., 46(1–2), 19–27.
Macey, R., Oster, G., and Zahley, T. (2000). Berkley madonna, version 8.0.1, ⟨http://www.berkleymadonna.com⟩.
Madigan, M. T., Martinko, J. M., and Parker, J. (2003). Brock biology of microorganisms, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Naeem, S., and Li, S. B. (1997). “Biodiversity enhances ecosystem reliability.” Nature (London), 390, 507–509.
Oerther, D. B., Pernthaler, J., Schramm, A., Amann, R., and Raskin, L. (2000). “Monitoring precursor 16S rRNAs of Acinetobacter spp. in activated sludge wastewater treatment systems.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 66, 2154–2165.
Saikaly, P. E., and Oerther, D. B. (2004). “Bacterial competition in activated sludge: Theoretical analysis of varying solids retention times on diversity.” Microb. Ecol., 48, 274–284.
Sommer, U. (1985). “Comparison between steady state and non-steady state competition: Experiments with natural phytoplankton.” Limnol. Oceanogr., 30(2), 335–346.
Tilman, D. (1977). “Resource competition between planktonic algae: An experimental and theoretical approach.” Ecology, 58, 338–348.
Tilman, D. (1999). “The ecological consequences of changes in biodiversity: A search for general principles.” Ecology, 80, 1455–1474.
van Groenestijn, J. W., Zuidema, M., van de Worp, J. J., Deinema, M. H., and Zehnder, A. J. (1989). “Influence of environmental parameters on polyphosphate accumulation in Acinetobacter sp.” Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 55, 67–82.
Zumstein, E., Moletta, R., and Godon, J. (2000). “Examination of two years of community dynamics in an anaerobic bioreactor using fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (PCR) single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis.” Environ. Microbiol., 2(1), 69–78.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 12 • December 2005
Pages: 1698 - 1705
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 22, 2004
Accepted: Jan 25, 2005
Published online: Dec 1, 2005
Published in print: Dec 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.