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 HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Piñar, G.
Right arrow Articles by Ramos, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Piñar, G.
Right arrow Articles by Ramos, J. L.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Piñar, G.
Right arrow Articles by Ramos, J. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2970-2976, Vol. 64, No. 8
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Influence of Carbon Source on Nitrate Removal by Nitrate-Tolerant Klebsiella oxytoca CECT 4460 in Batch and Chemostat Cultures

Guadalupe Piñar,1 Karin Kovárová,2 Thomas Egli,2 and Juan L. Ramos1,*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 18008 Granada, Spain,1 and Department of Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland2

Received 21 January 1998/Accepted 26 May 1998

The nitrate-tolerant organism Klebsiella oxytoca CECT 4460 tolerates nitrate at concentrations up to 1 M and is used to treat wastewater with high nitrate loads in industrial wastewater treatment plants. We studied the influence of the C source (glycerol or sucrose or both) on the growth rate and the efficiency of nitrate removal under laboratory conditions. With sucrose as the sole C source the maximum specific growth rate was 0.3 h-1, whereas with glycerol it was 0.45 h-1. In batch cultures K. oxytoca cells grown on sucrose or glycerol were able to immediately use sucrose as a sole C source, suggesting that sucrose uptake and metabolism were constitutive. In contrast, glycerol uptake occurred preferentially in glycerol-grown cells. Independent of the preculture conditions, when sucrose and glycerol were added simultaneously to batch cultures, the sucrose was used first, and once the supply of sucrose was exhausted, the glycerol was consumed. Utilization of nitrate as an N source occurred without nitrite or ammonium accumulation when glycerol was used, but nitrite accumulated when sucrose was used. In chemostat cultures K. oxytoca CECT 4460 efficiently removed nitrate without accumulation of nitrate or ammonium when sucrose, glycerol, or mixtures of these two C sources were used. The growth yields and the efficiencies of C and N utilization were determined at different growth rates in chemostat cultures. Regardless of the C source, yield carbon (YC) ranged between 1.3 and 1.0 g (dry weight) per g of sucrose C or glycerol C consumed. Regardless of the specific growth rate and the C source, yield nitrogen (YN) ranged from 17.2 to 12.5 g (dry weight) per g of nitrate N consumed. In contrast to batch cultures, in continuous cultures glycerol and sucrose were utilized simultaneously, although the specific rate of sucrose consumption was higher than the specific rate of glycerol consumption. In continuous cultures double-nutrient-limited growth appeared with respect to the C/N ratio of the feed medium and the dilution rate, so that for a C/N ratio between 10 and 30 and a growth rate of 0.1 h-1 the process led to simultaneous and efficient removal of the C and N sources used. At a growth rate of 0.2 h-1 the zone of double limitation was between 8 and 11. This suggests that the regimen of double limitation is influenced by the C/N ratio and the growth rate. The results of these experiments were validated by pulse assays.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: EEZ-CSIC, Apdo. Correos 419, E-18008 Granada, Spain. Phone: 34-958-121011. Fax: 34-958-129600. E-mail: jlramos{at}eez.csic.es.


Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2970-2976, Vol. 64, No. 8
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • del Castillo, T., Ramos, J. L. (2007). Simultaneous Catabolite Repression between Glucose and Toluene Metabolism in Pseudomonas putida Is Channeled through Different Signaling Pathways. J. Bacteriol. 189: 6602-6610 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Piñar, G., Ramos, J. L. (1998). Recombinant Klebsiella oxytoca Strains with Improved Efficiency in Removal of High Nitrate Loads. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 5016-5019 [Abstract] [Full Text]