Middle-thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria Thiomonas sp. RAN5 strain for hydrogen sulfide removal

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is one of the most toxic and offensively odorous gases and is generated in anaerobic bioreactors. A middle-thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium (SOB), Thiomonas sp. strain RAN5, was isolated and applied for H2S removal from both artificial and anaerobically digested gas. When a bioreactor containing medium inoculated with RAN5 was aerated continuously with artificial gas (containing 100 ppm H2S) at 45 degrees C for 156 hr, the H2S concentration in the vented gas was reduced by 99%. This was not affected by the presence of other microbes in the bioreactor The H2S removal efficiency of the RAN5 bioreactor for anaerobically digested gas was greater than 99% at influent H2S concentrations ranging from 2 to 1800 ppm; the efficiency decreased to 90% at influent H2S concentrations greater than 2000 ppm. Thiomonas sp. strain RAN5 cannot survive at room temperature, and thus its leakage from a wastewater treatment plant would not damage sewage systems. These data suggest that Thiomonas sp. strain RAN5 may be a useful microorganism for H2S removal.

Molecular analysis of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria community in intermittent aeration sequencing batch reactors used for animal wastewater treatment

Bacterial communities and betaproteobacterial ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) communities were evaluated seasonally in an intermittent-aeration sequencing batch process (SBR, plant A) and in 12 other livestock wastewater treatment plants (WWTP): eight SBRs and four conventional activated-sludge systems. Microbial communities were analysed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by denaturing-gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the construction of clone libraries for 16S rRNA and ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes. In plant A, the dominant bacteria were as-yet-uncultured bacteria of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, and the DGGE profiles showed that the bacterial communities were stable during a given treatment cycle, but changed seasonally. In betaproteobacterial AOB communities, two AOB phylotypes (members of the Nitrosomonas ureae-oligotropha-marina cluster) were dominant during the seasons in plant A. Although the dominant AOB phylotypes differed among the 13 WWTPs, dominance by one or two AOB phylotypes was commonly observed in all plants. Sequencing of the DGGE bands indicated that amoA sequences belonging to the Nitrosomonas europaea-eutropha cluster were dominant in 11 plants, where the ammonia-nitrogen concentration was high in the raw wastewater, whereas those belonging to the Nitrosomonas ureae-oligotropha-marina cluster were dominant in two plants where the concentration was relatively low. Even though we detected many minor amoA sequences by means of five clone libraries for the A to D plants, no libraries comprised both amoA sequences belonging to the two clusters, indicating that the dominant AOBs were defined by cluster level in each plant.

Ammonia removal from livestock wastewater by ammonia-assimilating microorganisms immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol

We isolated ammonia-assimilating microorganisms from the livestock manure treatment systems and evaluated their ammonia-assimilating ability. Many isolates utilized ammonia at high rates when they were purely cultivated in a nitrogen-limited medium to which sterilized lagoon extract had been added. Some isolates that were immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) utilized ammonia present in the media containing viable lagoon microorganisms. Staining with 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) indicated that the immobilized high ammonia-assimilating isolates grew dominantly within the PVA beads. High ammonia-assimilating isolates in the mixed culture containing viable lagoon microorganisms were identified as Pseudomonas spp. and member of Rhizobiaceae species by partial sequencing of the 16S ribosomal DNA.

A survey of ammonia-assimilating micro-organisms in cattle manure composting

AIMS

To evaluate the ammonia-assimilating abilities of micro-organisms isolated from cattle manure composting processes and to determine the distribution of cultivable species of ammonia-assimilating micro-organisms in microbial communities during the composting processes.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Compost samples were collected from four stages of treatment. Trypto soya agar was used for the isolation of ammonia-assimilating aerobes. Many of the isolates showed high ammonia-assimilating ability in a medium containing basal components and a compost extract. Partial 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing showed that the cultivable species of highly efficient ammonia-assimilating isolates changed during the composting process. The community structure of micro-organisms and actinomycetes was analysed by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Two species of actinomycetes identified by PCR-DGGE coincided with those found among the cultured isolates.

CONCLUSIONS

Ammonia-assimilating micro-organisms obtained by the cultivation method were not predominant in the microbial community during the composting process: however certain cultured actinomycetes were members of predominant species in the actinomycetes community.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Ammonia assimilation by micro-organisms is one of the important mechanisms for ammonia retention in the composting process. Cultivable actinomycetes are a means for preventing ammonia emission from the composting process.