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Phosphate uptake by immobilizedAcinetobacter calcoaceticus cells in a full scale activated sludge plant

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Journal of Industrial Microbiology

Abstract

Anin situ study of the P-uptake ability ofAcinetobacter calcoaceticus was carried out using the alginate immobilization technique. ImmobilizedA. calcoaceticus cells displayed a high P-uptake ability (>97% P-accumulating cells) when immersed in the aerobic zone of an activated sludge system for 30–240 min. The overall P-accumulation pattern of the anaerobic zone depicted a typical P-release mechanism. However, limited P-accumulation was also observed at this stage. Growth and anaerobiosis were not prerequisites for P-uptake. The immobilized cell retention time in the anaerobic zone did not affect remarkably the inherent P-uptake ability of immobilizedA. calcoaceticus when exposed to the aerobic stage. P-uptake and release were reversible and depended on the environmental conditions to which immobilized cells were exposed. Immobilization ofA. calcoaceticus using alginate can be regarded as a reliable method of studying pure cultures in the activated sludge process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of Pretoria, 0002, Pretoria, South Africa

    N Y O Muyima & T E Cloete

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  1. N Y O Muyima
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  2. T E Cloete
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Muyima, N.Y.O., Cloete, T.E. Phosphate uptake by immobilizedAcinetobacter calcoaceticus cells in a full scale activated sludge plant. Journal of Industrial Microbiology 15, 19–24 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01570008

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01570008

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