Publication
Title
Long-chain acylhomoserine lactones increase the anoxic ammonium oxidation rate in an OLAND biofilm
Author
Abstract
The oxygen-limited autotrophic nitrification/denitrification (OLAND) process comprises one-stage partial nitritation and anammox, catalyzed by aerobic and anoxic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AerAOB and AnAOB), respectively. The goal of this study was to investigate whether quorum sensing influences anoxic ammonium oxidation in an OLAND biofilm, with AnAOB colonizing 13% of the biofilm, as determined with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). At high biomass concentrations, the specific anoxic ammonium oxidation rate of the OLAND biofilm significantly increased with a factor of 1.5 +/- 0.2 compared to low biomass concentrations. Supernatant obtained from the biofilm showed no ammonium-oxidizing activity on itself, but its addition to low OLAND biomass concentrations resulted in a significant activity increase of the biomass. In the biofilm supernatant, the presence of long-chain acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) was shown using the reporter strain Chromobacterium violaceum CV026, and one specific AHL, N-dodecanoyl homoserine lactone (C(12)-HSL), was identified via LC-MS/MS. Furthermore, C(12)-HSL was detected in an AnAOB-enriched community, but not in an AerAOB-enriched community. Addition of C(12)-HSL to low OLAND biomass concentrations resulted in a significantly higher ammonium oxidation rate (p<0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that AHLs enhance the anoxic ammonium oxidation process. Future work should confirm which species are responsible for the in situ production of C(12)-HSL in AnAOB-based applications.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Applied microbiology and biotechnology. - Berlin, 1984, currens
Publication
Berlin : 2011
ISSN
0175-7598 [print]
1432-0614 [online]
DOI
10.1007/S00253-011-3177-7
Volume/pages
90 :4 (2011) , p. 1511-1519
ISI
000290574700031
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Project info
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 09.02.2015
Last edited 24.01.2023
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