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. 1985 Jul;50(1):120–124. doi: 10.1128/aem.50.1.120-124.1985

Effect of Reactor Turbulence on the Binding-Protein-Mediated Aspartate Transport System in Thin Wastewater Biofilms

T Taylor Eighmy 1,*, P L Bishop 1
PMCID: PMC238582  PMID: 16346830

Abstract

This research documents an effect of reactor turbulence on the ability of gram-negative wastewater biofilm bacteria to actively transport l-aspartate via a binding-protein-mediated transport system. Biofilms which were not preadapted to turbulence and which possessed two separate and distinct aspartate transport systems (systems 1 and 2) were subjected to a turbulent flow condition in a hydrodynamically defined closed-loop reactor system. A shear stress treatment of 3.1 N · m−2 for 10 min at a turbulent Reynolds number (Re = 11,297) inactivated the low-affinity, high-capacity binding-protein-mediated transport system (system 2) and resolved the high-affinity, low-capacity membrane-bound proton symport system (system 1). The Kt and Vmax values for the resolved system were statistically similar to Kt and Vmax values for system 1 when system 2 was inactivated either by osmotic shock or arsenate, two treatments which are known to inactivate binding-protein-mediated transport systems. We hypothesize that shear stress disrupts system 2 by deforming the outer membranes of the firmly adhered gram-negative bacteria.

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Selected References

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

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