Evaluation of Zosteric Acid for Mitigating Biofilm Formation of Pseudomonas putida Isolated from a Membrane Bioreactor System

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Andrea Polo³  Paola Foladori¹  Benedetta Ponti²  Roberta Bettinetti²  Michela Gambino³  Federica Villa³ 

[1] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Trento, via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy; E-Mail:;Dipartimento di Scienze Teoriche e Applicate, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy; E-Mails:;Dipartimento di Scienze per gli Alimenti, la Nutrizione e l’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy; E-Mails:

关键词: antifouling system;    biofilm;    Pseudomonas putida;    wastewater treatment plant;    membrane bioreactor;    ecotoxicological tests;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15069497

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This study provides data to define an efficient biocide-free strategy based on zosteric acid to counteract biofilm formation on the membranes of submerged bioreactor system plants. 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis showed that gammaproteobacteria was the prevalent taxa on fouled membranes of an Italian wastewater plant. Pseudomonas was the prevalent genus among the cultivable membrane-fouler bacteria and Pseudomonas putida was selected as the target microorganism to test the efficacy of the antifoulant. Zosteric acid was not a source of carbon and energy for P. putida cells and, at 200 mg/L, it caused a reduction of bacterial coverage by 80%. Biofilm experiments confirmed the compound caused a significant decrease in biomass (−97%) and thickness (−50%), and it induced a migration activity of the peritrichous flagellated P. putida over the polycarbonate surface not amenable to a biofilm phenotype. The low octanol-water partitioning coefficient and the high water solubility suggested a low bioaccumulation potential and the water compartment as its main environmental recipient and capacitor. Preliminary ecotoxicological tests did not highlight direct toxicity effects toward Daphnia magna. For green algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata an effect was observed at concentrations above 100 mg/L with a significant growth of protozoa that may be connected to a concurrent algal growth inhibition.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland