Community-based degradation of 4-chorosalicylate tracked on the single cell level.

Full Abstract

4-Chlorosalicylate (4-CS) can be degraded completely by a bacterial consortium consisting of Pseudomonas reinekei (MT1), Achromobacter spanius (MT3) and Pseudomonas veronii (MT4). The fourth species Wautersiella falsenii (MT2) is thought to act as a 'necrotizer' of the community. Single cell approaches were used to follow every species' degradation activity within the community by assuming that growth and proliferation are activity markers for the utilization of 4-CS and its degradation pathway intermediates as carbon and energy sources. A primary/secondary antibody staining technique for species differentiation was applied and a species-resolved determination of proliferation activity by flow cytometry undertaken. Degradation was followed by quantifying 4-CS and the resulting intermediates by HPLC. A good correlation of HPLC bulk data with the proliferation activity states of every species within the community was found. It was also assumed that reduced activity of strain MT4 and increased proliferation of strain MT2 might have caused an observed breakdown of the consortium grown in the bioreactor. The double staining technique provided the chance to follow bacterial cell states and their roles in mixed cultures without applying labelled substrates. It is therefore in line with single cell techniques already successfully applied in biotechnology for developing strategies to optimize microbially catalyzed production processes.

Author information

Author/s: Pawelczyk, Sonja (S); Abraham, Wolf-Rainer (WR); Harms, Hauke (H); Müller, Susann (S);

Affiliation: University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, South Parks Road, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of microbiological methods (J Microbiol Methods), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 75 (issue 1) : pp 117-26

Dates: Created 2008/08/12; Completed 2008/10/21;

PMID: 18593643, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.