• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: In Situ Characterization of Nitrospira -Like Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria Active in Wastewater Treatment Plants
  • Contributor: Daims, Holger; Nielsen, Jeppe L.; Nielsen, Per H.; Schleifer, Karl-Heinz; Wagner, Michael
  • imprint: American Society for Microbiology, 2001
  • Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1128/aem.67.11.5273-5284.2001
  • ISSN: 1098-5336; 0099-2240
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> Uncultivated <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like bacteria in different biofilm and activated-sludge samples were investigated by cultivation-independent molecular approaches. Initially, the phylogenetic affiliation of <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like bacteria in a nitrifying biofilm was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Subsequently, a phylogenetic consensus tree of the <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> phylum including all publicly available sequences was constructed. This analysis revealed that the genus <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> consists of at least four distinct sublineages. Based on these data, two 16S rRNA-directed oligonucleotide probes specific for the phylum and genus <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> , respectively, were developed and evaluated for suitability for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The probes were used to investigate the in situ architecture of cell aggregates of <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like nitrite oxidizers in wastewater treatment plants by FISH, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and computer-aided three-dimensional visualization. Cavities and a network of cell-free channels inside the <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> microcolonies were detected that were water permeable, as demonstrated by fluorescein staining. The uptake of different carbon sources by <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like bacteria within their natural habitat under different incubation conditions was studied by combined FISH and microautoradiography. Under aerobic conditions, the <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like bacteria in bioreactor samples took up inorganic carbon (as HCO <jats:sub>3</jats:sub> <jats:sup>−</jats:sup> or as CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> ) and pyruvate but not acetate, butyrate, and propionate, suggesting that these bacteria can grow mixotrophically in the presence of pyruvate. In contrast, no uptake by the <jats:italic>Nitrospira</jats:italic> -like bacteria of any of the carbon sources tested was observed under anoxic or anaerobic conditions. </jats:p>
  • Access State: Open Access