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Interaction of Klebsiella oxytoca and Burkholderia cepacia in Dual-Species Batch Cultures and Biofilms as a Function of Growth Rate and Substrate Concentration

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Abstract

Dual-species microbial interactions have been extensively reported for batch and continuous culture environments. However, little research has been performed on dual-species interaction in a biofilm. This research examined the effects of growth rate and substrate concentration on dual-species population densities in batch and biofilm reactors. In addition, the feasibility of using batch reactor kinetics to describe dual-species biofilm interactions was explored. The scope of the research was directed toward creating a dual-species biofilm for the biodegradation of trichloroethylene, but the findings are a significant contribution to the study of dual-species interactions in general. The two bacterial species used were Burkholderia cepacia PR1-pTOM31c, an aerobic organism capable of constitutively mineralizing trichloroethylene (TCE), and Klebsiella oxytoca, a highly mucoid, facultative anaerobic organism. The substrate concentrations used were different dilutions of a nutrient-rich medium resulting in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations on the order of 30, 70, and 700 mg/L. Presented herein are single- and dual-species population densities and growth rates for these two organisms grown in batch and continuous-flow biofilm reactors. In batch reactors, planktonic growth rates predicted dual-species planktonic species dominance, with the faster-growing organism (K. oxytoca) outcompeting the slower-growing organism (B. cepacia). In a dual-species biofilm, however, dual-species planktonic growth rates did not predict which organism would have the higher dual-species biofilm population density. The relative fraction of each organism in a dual-species biofilm did correlate with substrate concentration, with B. cepacia having a greater proportional density in the dual-species culture with K. oxytoca at low (30 and 70 mg/L DOC) substrate concentrations and K. oxytoca having a greater dual-species population density at a high (700 mg/L DOC) substrate concentration. Results from this research demonstrate the effectiveness of using substrate concentration to control population density in this dual-species biofilm.

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Acknowledgments

This article has been funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement R-815709 through the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center, headquartered at Kansas State University, the National Science Foundation, and MSE Technology Applications Inc., Butte, Montana. The Biofilm Systems Training Lab (BSTL) is acknowledged for loan of the rotating-disk reactors. We also thank Laura Jennings and Allison Rhoads for providing technical assistance.

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  1. J. Komlos

    Present address: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3980, USA

    J. Komlos, A.B. Cunningham & A.K. Camper

  2. Environmental Engineering Department, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10471, USA

    R.R. Sharp

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  1. J. Komlos
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Correspondence to J. Komlos.

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Komlos, J., Cunningham, A., Camper, A. et al. Interaction of Klebsiella oxytoca and Burkholderia cepacia in Dual-Species Batch Cultures and Biofilms as a Function of Growth Rate and Substrate Concentration. Microb Ecol 49, 114–125 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-1066-z

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