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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2001, p. 5740-5749, Vol. 67, No. 12
Department of Environmental Systems
Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata
940-2188,1 and Research Institute of
Biological Resources, National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki
305-8566,2 Japan
Received 13 July 2001/Accepted 26 September 2001
We previously showed that very thin filamentous bacteria affiliated
with the division green non-sulfur bacteria were abundant in the
outermost layer of thermophilic methanogenic sludge granules fed with
sucrose and several low-molecular-weight fatty acids (Y. Sekiguchi, Y. Kamagata, K. Nakamura, A. Ohashi, H. Harada, Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
65:1280-1288, 1999). Further 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA)
cloning-based analysis revealed that the microbes were classified
within a unique clade, green non-sulfur bacteria (GNSB) subdivision I,
which contains a number of 16S rDNA clone sequences from various
environmental samples but no cultured representatives. To investigate
their function in the community and physiological traits, we attempted
to isolate the yet-to-be-cultured microbes from the original granular
sludge. The first attempt at isolation from the granules was, however,
not successful. In the other thermophilic reactor that had been
treating fried soybean curd-manufacturing wastewater, we found
filamentous microorganisms to outgrow, resulting in the formation of
projection-like structures on the surface of granules, making the
granules look like sea urchins. 16S rDNA-cloning analysis combined with
fluorescent in situ hybridization revealed that the projections were
comprised of the uncultured filamentous cells affiliated with the GNSB
subdivision I and Methanothermobacter-like cells and the
very ends of the projections were comprised solely of the filamentous
cells. By using the tip of the projection as the inoculum for primary
enrichment, a thermophilic, strictly anaerobic, filamentous bacterium,
designated strain UNI-1, was successfully isolated with a medium
supplemented with sucrose and yeast extract. The strain was a very slow
growing bacterium which is capable of utilizing only a limited range of
carbohydrates in the presence of yeast extract and produced hydrogen
from these substrates. The growth was found to be significantly
stimulated when the strain was cocultured with a hydrogen-utilizing
methanogen, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus,
suggesting that the strain is a sugar-fermenting bacterium, the growth
of which is dependent on hydrogen consumers in the granules.
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.12.5740-5749.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
In Situ Detection, Isolation, and Physiological
Properties of a Thin Filamentous Microorganism Abundant in Methanogenic
Granular Sludges: a Novel Isolate Affiliated with a Clone Cluster, the
Green Non-Sulfur Bacteria, Subdivision I
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Microbial and
Genetic Resources Research Group, Research Institute of Biological
Resources, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology, Central 6, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan. Phone:
81-298-61-6590. Fax: 81-298-61-6587. E-mail:
y.sekiguchi{at}aist.go.jp.
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