Isolation of Biofilm-Forming Bacteria from the Secondary Effluent of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and its Ability to Produce N-Acylhomoserine Lactone as Quorum Sensing Signal

Abstract:

Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) is one of the cell-to-cell communication systems. N-Acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) are the most common QS signals and responsible for biofilm formation in gram-negative bacteria. Inactivation of QS, also referred to as quorum quenching, has been regarded as a popular strategy to control membrane bioreactor (MBR) operations because biofouling in MBR wastewater treatment systems is often caused by biofilm formation. In the present study, 24 bacterial strains were isolated from the secondary effluent of a wastewater treatment plant and AHL productivity and biofilm formation were evaluated on 8 out of 24 isolates. The isolated 8 strains can produce AHLs that only possess a long (C8-C14) acyl side chain. The representative 3 strains were selected from these isolates based on the higher activity of biofilm formation. The AHL separation analysis with a thin layer chromatography clearly showed that N-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) and N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) existed in the secondary effluent sample, while no C6-HSL producing strain was isolated. C8-HSL was identified as the product of isolate No. 6. These results suggest that the secondary effluent probably contains various cell-to-cell signaling molecules derived not only from the inhabitants but also from the other microorganisms involved in the activated sludge for the biological pre-treatment. In this secondary effluent, AHL trapping techniques can be proposed as one of the acceptable strategies for the control of the QS systems because the remaining AHLs have relatively long acyl side chain and low concentrations.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 863)
• Pages: 135-140
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.863.135
• Online since: February 2017
• Authors: Eri Nasuno*, Yuto Abe, Ken-ichi Iimura, Masaki Ohno, Tetsuji Okuda, Wataru Nishijima, Norihiro Kato
• Keywords: Activated Sludge, Biofilm, N-Acylhomoserine Lactone, Quorum Sensing

References

[1] P. Williams, Quorum sensing, communication and cross-kingdom signalling in the bacterial world, Microbiol. 153 (2007) 3923–3938.

DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.2007/012856-0

[2] M. F. Siddiqui, M. Sakinah, L. Singh, Targeting N-acyl-homoserine-lactones to mitigate membrane biofouling based on quorum sensing using a biofouling reducer, J. Biotechnol. 161 (2012) 190-197.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2012.06.029

[3] K. M. Yeon, W. S. Cheong, H. S. Oh, Quorum sensing: A new biofouling control paradigm in a membrane bioreactor for advanced wastewater treatment, Environ. Sci. Technol. 43 (2009) 380−385.

DOI: 10.1021/es8019275

[4] H. S. Oh, K. M. Yeon, C. S. Yang, Control of membrane biofouling in MBR for wastewater treatment by quorum quenching bacteria encapsulated in microporous membrane, Environ. Sci. Technol. 46 (2012) 4877-4884.

DOI: 10.1021/es204312u

[5] S. R. Kim, H. S. Oh, S. J. Jo, Biofouling control with bead-entrapped quorum quenching bacteria in membrane bioreactors: Physical and biological effects, Environ. Sci. Technol. 47 (2013) 836-842.

DOI: 10.1021/es303995s

[6] S. R. Kim, K. B. Lee, J. E. Kim, Macroencapsulation of quorum quenching bacteria by polymeric membrane layer and its application to MBR for biofouling control, J. Membr. Sci. 473 (2015) 109–117.

DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2014.09.009

[7] H. Lade, D. Paul, J. H. Kweon, Quorum quenching mediated approaches for control of membrane biofouling, Int. J. Biol. Sci. 10 (2014) 550-565.

DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.9028

[8] H. Lade, D. Paul, J. H. Kweon, Isolation and molecular characterization of biofouling bacteria and profiling of quorum sensing signal molecules from membrane bioreactor activated sludge, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 15 (2014) 2255-2273.

DOI: 10.3390/ijms15022255

[9] K. H. McClean, M. K. Winson, L. Fish, Quorum sensing and Chromobacterium violaceum: exploitation of violacein production and inhibition for the detection of N-acylhomoserine lactones, Microbiol. 143 (1997) 3703-3711.

DOI: 10.1099/00221287-143-12-3703

[10] T. Morohoshi, M. Kato, K. Fukamachi, N-Acylhomoserine lactone regulates violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum type strain ATCC 12472, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 279 (2008) 124–130.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2007.01016.x

[11] K. Czaczyk, K. Myszka, Biosynthesis of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and its role in microbial biofilm formation, Polish J. Environ. Stud. 16 (2007) 799-806.

[12] P. Krzeminski, A. I. Obelleiro, G. Madebo, Impact of temperature on raw wastewater composition and activated sludge filterability in full-scale MBR systems for municipal sewage treatment, J. Membr. Sci. 423-424 (2012) 348-361.

DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2012.08.032