TEST-SYSTEMS FOR MONITORING OF CORROSION-RELEVANT SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA USING REAL-TIME PCR ASSAY

48 Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are widespread in various environments: sea sludge deposits, hydrothermal springs, fresh water systems, soils, anaerobic mud, wastewaters, oil and gas fields and other ecotopes [1–4]. They are known to be the main producers of the biogenic hydrogen sulfide in the biosphere. In the natural conditions biogenic hydrogen sulfide reacts contributing to the formation of sulfur ores, metal sulfide deposits, therapeutic muds, mineral waters and soda lakes. Furthermore, the hydrogen sulfide produced by sulfate-reducers in the industrial systems behaves as a corrosive agent, promoting the biodeterioration of steel, ferroconcrete and metal installations [4]. Therefore, it is actual for monitoring of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the places of the anthropogenic intervention in the underground environment. As described in our previous works, the zones undergoing man-caused load, namely in the places of underground communication, gas pipeline and hot-water system, get colonized by the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio Desulfotomaculum and Desulfomicrobium genera [5–7]. The fundamental metabolic feature of isolated SRBs is the hydrogen sulfide production as the result of dissimilatory sulfate reduction. In all the SRBs described sulfate-reduction pathway is a complex multistage process which catalyzed by more than 17 enzymes, three of them are key enzymes. The initial stage is activation of sulfate by ATP sulfurylase (SAT), (EC 2.7.7.4) the second reaction is reduction of adenosine-5-phosphosulfate (APS) to adenosine-monophosphate (AMP) and sulfite by enzyme APS reductase (APR) (EC 1.8.99.2), and subsequent further reduction to hydrogen sulfide by dissimilatory sulfite reductases (DSR) (EC 1.8.99.3) [8]. Thus, the functional genes of the sulfate reduction pathway are aps, apr-, and dsr-genes, encoding the key enzymes [8–10]. Analysis of the aps-genes primary are used for differing sulfateand sulfite-reducing bacteria, cause the last one haven’t this gene UDK 579.63:577.29 doi: 10.15407/biotech9.01.048