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Effect of nitrite and nitrate on in situ sulfide production in an activated sludge immobilized agar gel film as determined by use of microelectrodes
Author(s) -
Okabe Satoshi,
Santegoeds Cecilia M.,
De Beer Dirk
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.10495
Subject(s) - sulfide , sulfate reducing bacteria , nitrate , chemistry , nitrite , sulfate , activated sludge , temperature gradient gel electrophoresis , in situ , hydrogen sulfide , environmental chemistry , chromatography , nuclear chemistry , biochemistry , sulfur , environmental engineering , organic chemistry , sewage treatment , 16s ribosomal rna , gene , engineering
Microelectrode, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses were used to investigate the effect of nitrite and nitrate on in situ sulfide production in an activated sludge immobilized agar gel film. Microelectrode measurements of O 2 , H 2 S, NO 3 − , NO 2 − , and pH revealed that the addition of NO 2 − and NO 3 − forced sulfate reduction zones deeper in the agar gel and significantly reduced the in situ sulfide production levels. The sulfate reduction zone was consequently separated from O 2 and NO 2 − or NO 3 − respiration zones with increasing the concentrations of NO 2 − and NO 3 − . These NO 2 − and NO 3 − treatments had only a transient effect on sulfide production. The in situ sulfide production quickly recovered to the previous levels when NO 2 − and NO 3 − were removed. The PCR‐DGGE and FISH analyses revealed that 2‐day‐continuous addition of 500 μ M NO 3 − did not change the metabolically active sulfate‐reducing bacterial (SRB) community. On the basis of these data, it could be concluded that the addition of NO 2 − and NO 3 − did not kill SRB, but induced the interspecies competition for common carbon source (i.e., acetate) between nitrate‐reducing heterotrophic bacteria and SRB and enhanced the oxidation of the produced sulfide, which were main possible causes of the suppression of in situ sulfide production in the agar gel. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 81: 570–577, 2003.