This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Juhler, S.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, L. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Juhler, S.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, L. P.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Juhler, S.
Right arrow Articles by Nielsen, L. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3705-3713, Vol. 75, No. 11
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02612-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Distribution and Rate of Microbial Processes in an Ammonia-Loaded Air Filter Biofilm{triangledown}

Susanne Juhler,* Niels Peter Revsbech, Andreas Schramm, Martina Herrmann,{dagger} Lars D. M. Ottosen, and Lars Peter Nielsen

Department of Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Aarhus University, Bd. 1540, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

Received 14 November 2008/ Accepted 30 March 2009

The in situ activity and distribution of heterotrophic and nitrifying bacteria and their potential interactions were investigated in a full-scale, two-section, trickling filter designed for biological degradation of volatile organics and NH3 in ventilation air from pig farms. The filter biofilm was investigated by microsensor analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization, quantitative PCR, and batch incubation activity measurements. In situ aerobic activity showed a significant decrease through the filter, while the distribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was highly skewed toward the filter outlet. Nitrite oxidation was not detected during most of the experimental period, and the AOB activity therefore resulted in NO2–, accumulation, with concentrations often exceeding 100 mM at the filter inlet. The restriction of AOB to the outlet section of the filter was explained by both competition with heterotrophic bacteria for O2 and inhibition by the protonated form of NO2–, HNO2. Product inhibition of AOB growth could explain why this type of filter tends to emit air with a rather constant NH3 concentration irrespective of variations in inlet concentration and airflow.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Aarhus University, Bd. 1540, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Phone: 45 89423318. Fax: 45 8942 2722. E-mail: susanne.juhler{at}biology.au.dk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 10 April 2009.

{dagger} Present address: Leibniz University Hannover, Institute for Microbiology, Schneiderberg 50, D-30167 Hannover, Germany.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2009, p. 3705-3713, Vol. 75, No. 11
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02612-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»