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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2000, p. 4559-4563, Vol. 66, No. 10
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Structure and Species Composition of Mercury-Reducing Biofilms

I. Wagner-Döbler,* H. Lünsdorf, T. Lübbehüsen, H. F. von Canstein, and Y. Li

National Research Centre for Biotechnology (GBF), Division of Microbiology, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany

Received 17 April 2000/Accepted 25 July 2000

Mercury-reducing biofilms from packed-bed bioreactors treating nonsterile industrial effluents were shown to consist of a monolayer of bacteria by scanning electron microscopy. Droplets of several micrometers in diameter which accumulated outside of the bacterial cells were identified as elemental mercury by electron-dispersive X-ray analysis. The monospecies biofilms of Pseudomonas putida Spi3 initially present were invaded by additional strains, which were identified to the species level by thermogradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and 16S rDNA sequencing. TGGE community fingerprints of the biofilms showed that they were composed of the effluent bacteria and did not contain uncultivable microorganisms. Of the 13 effluent bacterial strains, 2 were not mercury resistant, while all the others had resistance levels similar to or higher than the inoculant strain.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: GBF, Mascheroder Weg 1, D-38124 Braunschweig. Phone: 49-531-6181 408. Fax: 49-531-6181 411. E-mail: iwd{at}gbf.de.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2000, p. 4559-4563, Vol. 66, No. 10
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Teitzel, G. M., Parsek, M. R. (2003). Heavy Metal Resistance of Biofilm and Planktonic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 2313-2320 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • von Canstein, H., Kelly, S., Li, Y., Wagner-Dobler, I. (2002). Species Diversity Improves the Efficiency of Mercury-Reducing Biofilms under Changing Environmental Conditions. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 2829-2837 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • von Canstein, H., Li, Y., Leonhauser, J., Haase, E., Felske, A., Deckwer, W.-D., Wagner-Dobler, I. (2002). Spatially Oscillating Activity and Microbial Succession of Mercury-Reducing Biofilms in a Technical-Scale Bioremediation System. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 1938-1946 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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