Comparison of Activated Sludge Microbial Communities Using Biolog super( registered ) Microplates

• Published in: MICROORGANISMS IN ACTIVATED SLUDGE AND BIOFILM PROCESSES II Vol. 37; no. 4-5; pp. 57 - 63
• Main Authors: Kaiser, S K, Guckert, J B, Gledhill, D W
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.1998
• Subjects: Bacteria; Biodegradation; Metabolism; Sewage treatment plants; Simulation
• ISSN: 0273-1223

Biolog super( registered ) Microplates were used to evaluate the potential changes in metabolic profiles in laboratory-scale continuous-flow activated-sludge and semi-continuous-flow activated-sludge models of wastewater-treatment-plant microbial communities. The 96-well Biolog Microplate, which contains an array of 96 carbon sources and a tetrazolium dye for identifying Gram-negative microbial isolates, is described. Multivariate principal component analysis was used to compared C-source-utilization patterns for the two systems fed with wastewater-treatment-plant sewage and with a simple synthetic glucose peptone wastewater. Results showed that the microbial communities in the laboratory systems were similar to those in full-scale plants. Amendment of the systems with the glucose peptone wastewater caused a measurable shift in the microbial community in the semi-continuous-flow activated-sludge system.