A stable mixed microbial community able to utilise picolinic acid as the sole carbon and energy source was isolated from soil by continuous- flow culture enrichment. The community contained six different organisms three of which were capable of growth on picolinate in pure culture. These three primary utilisers were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis and a second Alcaligenes sp. The three secondary organisms were Bacillus licheniformis, a Rhodococcus sp and a Corynebacterium sp. of the C.aquaticum type. These secondary organisms were presumed to be growing on the secondary metabolites of the primary utilisers but contributing something to the mixed culture due to its stability. The community was adapted to degrade a chlorinated analogue of picolinate, namely 3,6-dichloropicolinate, and the kinetics of enzyme attack on picolinate, in the presence and absence of the chlorinated compound was studied. At low growth rates, that would represent nature more accurately, there was a decrease in 36-DCPA concentration of approximately 15% indicating some microbial degradation. Oxygen uptake by the community in the presence of various substrates was studied and, generally, it was found that 36DCPA inhibited, to some extent, the uptake by the microbial community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:276409 |
| Date | January 1981 |
| Creators | Lovatt, David |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/107021/ |
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