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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2002, p. 2285-2293, Vol. 68, No. 5
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.5.2285-2293.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Spatial Distribution of Total, Ammonia-Oxidizing, and Denitrifying Bacteria in Biological Wastewater Treatment Reactors for Bioregenerative Life Support

Yuko Sakano,1 Karen D. Pickering,2 Peter F. Strom,1 and Lee J. Kerkhof3*

Department of Environmental Sciences,1 Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8521,3 NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 770582

Received 30 August 2001/ Accepted 11 February 2002

Bioregenerative life support systems may be necessary for long-term space missions due to the high cost of lifting supplies and equipment into orbit. In this study, we investigated two biological wastewater treatment reactors designed to recover potable water for a spacefaring crew being tested at Johnson Space Center. The experiment (Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project—Phase III) consisted of four crew members confined in a test chamber for 91 days. In order to recycle all water during the experiment, an immobilized cell bioreactor (ICB) was employed for organic carbon removal and a trickling filter bioreactor (TFB) was utilized for ammonia removal, followed by physical-chemical treatment. In this study, the spatial distribution of various microorganisms within each bioreactor was analyzed by using biofilm samples taken from four locations in the ICB and three locations in the TFB. Three target genes were used for characterization of bacteria: the 16S rRNA gene for the total bacterial community, the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene for ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, and the nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) gene for denitrifying bacteria. A combination of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), sequence, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the microbial community composition in the ICB and the TFB consisted mainly of Proteobacteria, low-G+C gram-positive bacteria, and a Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides group. Fifty-seven novel 16S rRNA genes, 8 novel amoA genes, and 12 new nosZ genes were identified in this study. Temporal shifts in the species composition of total bacteria in both the ICB and the TFB and ammonia-oxidizing and denitrifying bacteria in the TFB were also detected when the biofilms were compared with the inocula after 91 days. This result suggests that specific microbial populations were either brought in by the crew or enriched in the reactors during the course of operation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Cook Campus, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8521. Phone: (732) 932-6555, ext. 335. Fax: (732) 932-6520. E-mail: kerkhof{at}imcs.rutgers.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2002, p. 2285-2293, Vol. 68, No. 5
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.5.2285-2293.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ahn, Y.-B., Rhee, S.-K., Fennell, D. E., Kerkhof, L. J., Hentschel, U., Haggblom, M. M. (2003). Reductive Dehalogenation of Brominated Phenolic Compounds by Microorganisms Associated with the Marine Sponge Aplysina aerophoba. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 4159-4166 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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