Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied Microbiology logoLink to Applied Microbiology
. 1965 Mar;13(2):257–261. doi: 10.1128/am.13.2.257-261.1965

Microbial Ecology of Activated Sludge

II. Bacteriophages, Bdellovibrio, Coliforms, and Other Organisms

F F Dias 1, J V Bhat 1
PMCID: PMC1058232  PMID: 14325890

Abstract

A comparative estimation of the coliform population of raw sewage, activated sludge, and the effluent derived therefrom revealed that raw sewage had a preponderance of Escherichia coli (75%), as compared with 25 and 30%, respectively, in sludge and effluent. Nitrogen-free mannitol-sucrose enrichments of activated sludge resulted in the isolation of Azotobacter agilis, Aerobacter aerogenes, Corynebacterium laevaniformans, and an Achromabacter species. Sludge had a large population of C. laevaniformans and A. aerogenes but not of Azotobacter. The bacterial parasites, Bdellovibrio and bacteriophages, were not active during activated-sludge treatment. A 10-fold reduction in phage content occurred after 2 hr of aeration, but the Bdellovibrio population was unaffected.

Full text

PDF
257

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ALLEN L. A., BROOKS E., WILLIAMS I. L. Effect of treatment at the sewage works on the numbers and types of bacteria in sewage. J Hyg (Lond) 1949 Sep;47(3):303–319. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400014637. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DIAS F. F., BHAT J. V. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE. I. DOMINANT BACTERIA. Appl Microbiol. 1964 Sep;12:412–417. doi: 10.1128/am.12.5.412-417.1964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HAYNES W. C., WICKERHAM L. J., HESSELTINE C. W. Maintenance of cultures of industrially important microorganisms. Appl Microbiol. 1955 Nov;3(6):361–368. doi: 10.1128/am.3.6.361-368.1955. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. PENGRA R. M., WILSON P. W. Physiology of nitrogen fixation by Aerobacter aerogenes. J Bacteriol. 1958 Jan;75(1):21–25. doi: 10.1128/jb.75.1.21-25.1958. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. PRETORIUS W. A. Some observations on the role of coliphages in the number of Escherichia coli in oxidation ponds. J Hyg (Lond) 1962 Sep;60:279–281. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400020374. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. PROCTOR M. H., WILSON P. W. Nitrogen fixation by Achromobacter spp. Arch Mikrobiol. 1959;32(3):254–260. doi: 10.1007/BF00409346. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. STOLP H., STARR M. P. BDELLOVIBRIO BACTERIOVORUS GEN. ET SP. N., A PREDATORY, ECTOPARASITIC, AND BACTERIOLYTIC MICROORGANISM. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1963;29:217–248. doi: 10.1007/BF02046064. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. TOMLINSON T. G., LOVELESS J. E., SEAR L. G. Effect of treatment in percolating filters on the numbers of bacteria in sewage in relation to the composition and size of filtering medium. J Hyg (Lond) 1962 Sep;60:365–377. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400020489. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WARE G. C., MELLON M. A. Some observations on the coli/coliphage relationship in sewage. J Hyg (Lond) 1956 Mar;54(1):99–101. doi: 10.1017/s002217240004434x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES