Screening environmental samples for source-specific bacteriophage hosts using a method for the simultaneous pouring of 12 petri plates

A simple apparatus was developed to allow 12 petri plates to be poured simultaneously by hand. It was used when screening bacterial isolates from sewage and dog feces for their ability to detect phages from these sources. This was done to assess the ease with which source-specific phage hosts can be isolated from these sources of fecal pollution. Host bacteria that consistently detected phages from sewage were easily isolated from sewage. These bacterial isolates did not detect phages from dog feces. Host bacteria were not isolated from dog feces even after screening hundreds of colonies from fecal samples from six dogs. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2000) 24, 124–126. Received 06 July 1999/ Accepted in revised form 05 November 1999     

中水技术污水处理工艺去除病毒的效果

中水技术开发既可缓解水资源的紧缺,又能改善城市环境。本文报道用石英粉吸附/洗脱和浓缩棒脱水的二步浓集水病毒技术(回收率为25.4～37.3％),研究中水技术不同处理工艺去除病毒的效果。结果,二级处理可去除掺入病毒的98.9％,结合三级处理的混凝沉淀和过滤,可去除99.976％,再加活性炭吸附或加氯消毒,所得中水分别去除掺入病毒的99.986％和99.991％。经首都机场中水道试验厂水样检测表明,中水中未检测到病毒(<0.23PFU/L)。     

Effect of domestic sewage on sand beach meiofauna at Goa,India

Meiofauna of a sewage-polluted sandy beach, where sand alone constituted > 90%, was surveyed. Nematodes dominated the fauna numerically at all stations, followed by harpacticoid copepods. Most of the animals were confined to the top 5 cm of the sediment. A seasonal pattern was observed in the distribution of the fauna. There were significant spatial and temporal variations in mean meiofauna density, attributed to organic discharge via sewage and prevailing environmental conditions in the study area.     

Keratinolytic fungi in sewage sludge

Sewage sludge from the Upper Silesia Region of Poland were surveyed for keratinolytic fungi. Out of 100 Petri dishes examined, 89 were positive for these micro-organisms. Altogether, 185 fungal appearances belonging to 10 species were observed. Trichophyton terrestre with its teleomorph Arthroderma quadrifidum, T. ajelloi with A. uncinatum, Microsporum gypseum with Arthroderma sp., and Chrysosporium keratinophilum with Aphanoascus keratinophilus prevailed in the sludges. The sewage treatment technologies together with the sludge structure, humidity and pH were found to be critical factors determining the occurrence of keratinolytic fungi in the sludge environment. The qualitative and quantitative composition of keratinolytic fungi could be a useful tool in evaluation of sludge treatment processes.     

Effect of concentration and environmental form of tetradecenyl succinic acid on its mineralization in soil

Tetradecenyl succinic acid (TSA) is the major component of a detergent builder (C12-C14 alkenyl succinic acid), which is inherently biodegradable. ¹⁴C-TSA was dosed as a component of sewage sludge into a soil with a history of sludge amendment at final added concentrations of 1.5 and 30 mg (kg soil)^-1. In addition, it was dosed to the soil in an aqueous solution to a final added concentration of 30 mg (kg soil)^-1. Dose and form were found to have a pronouced effect on the mineralization kinetics. When dosed in a realistic form and concentration (i.e. 1.5 mg (kg soil)^-1 as a component of sludge), TSA was mineralized at its highest rate and to its greatest extent, and the mineralization half-life was 2.4 days. When dosed at 30 mg (kg soil)^-1 as a component of sludge, mineralization began immediately, and the half-life was 23 days. In contrast, when dosed at this concentration in aqueous solution, the onset of mineralization was preceded by a 13 day lag period and the mineralization half-life was 69 days. Primary biodegradation and mineralization rates of TSA were very similar. Approximately, half the radioactivity was evolved as ¹⁴CO₂, while the remaining radioactivity became non-extractable, having presumably been incorporated into biomass or natural soil organic matter (humics). This study demonstrated that TSA is effectively removed from sludge-amended soils as a result of biodegradation. Furthermore, it showed the effect that dose form and concentration have on the biodegradation kinetics and the importance of dosing a chemical not only at a relevant concentration but also in the environmental form in which it enters the soil environment.     

Removal of caffeine in sewage by Pseudomonas putida: Implications for water pollution index

A strain of Pseudomonas putida (biotype A) capable of growing on caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) was isolated from a domestic wastewater processing operation. It used caffeine as the sole carbon source with a mean growth rate constant (k) of 0.049 h^-1 (approximately 20 h per generation), whereas k for glucose utilization under similar incubation conditions was 0.31 (3.3 h per generation). The isolate contained at least two plasmids, and the increased expression of a 40 kDa protein was attributable to growth on caffeine. Degradation byproducts of caffeine metabolism by the bacterial isolate included other xanthine derivatives. The slow bacterial catabolism of caffeine in sewage has implications for the effectiveness of wastewater purification, re-use and disposal.The author is with the Laboratory for Molecular Ecology, Department of Environmental Analysis and Design, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92717-5150 U.S.A.     

深圳福田红树林区底栖大型动物群落的空间分带及灌污的可能影响

本文自１９９１年４月至１９９３年１月对深圳福田红树林中底栖大型动物的空间分带及灌污的可能影响进行了研究。结果表明,该红树林湿地中主要出现的底栖动物为拟沼螺科,黑螺科,汇螺科,沙蟹科,方蟹科和弹涂鱼科种类。红树区内底栖动物从高潮位到低潮位可分为３个群落分布带：亮泽拟沼螺带;拟黑螺－褶痕相手蟹带;弧边招潮－印尼拟蟹守螺－刻纹拟沼螺带。群落的分带可能主要由潮位线,食物适应性及底质结构因素决定。林前泥滩底栖动物种类多样性最大,生物量最高。林内动物群落则表现出低种类多样性,高种群个体数的特点。群落总栖息密度的变化基本上由软体动物所主导。生活污水排灌对红树林中底栖大型动物的影响不明显,仅在排污口端引起少数污水动物种类的出现及群落总生物量轻微的升高。     

Toxicity of sewage-contaminated sediment cores to Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales,Phaeophyta) gametophytes determined by digital image analysis

Macrocystis pyrifera gametophytes were exposed in batch culture to varying mass concentrations of buried, sewage-contaminated, historically discharged sediment that had been sampled from two sites off Palos Verdes Peninsula, California. Significant gametophytic vegetative growth inhibition was detected in six days, using digital image analysis at sediment loadings ranging from 0.15 to 14.5 g in 500 mL nutrient-enriched seawater. Inhibition declined at low sediment loadings and increased at high loadings as cultures aged. Sediments corresponding to the historic emissions peak taken 2 km from the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant outfall inhibited vegetative growth more than did sediments sampled 13 km distant. Analysis showed elevated aqueous Cd(II), Cr(II) and p,p-DDE concentrations in high sediment-loading culture medium. Inhibition by Zn(II) alone was observed at similar concentrations in other experiments, but synergism or antagonism by other toxicants remains possible.     

Growth of rural and urban children in the Valley of Oaxaca,Mexico

Weight, stature, arm circumference, and the triceps skinfold were measured in 1,410 school children, 6 through 14 years of age, from two urban colonias in the city of Oaxaca de Juarez (n = 479), and from two rural Ladino (n = 467) and two rural Zapotec (n = 464) communities in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Children from rural Ladino communities and urban colonias are significantly taller, heavier, and more muscular than children in rural Zapotec communities. The differences between rural Ladino and urban colonia children favor the former, particularly for weight and stature. These observations thus suggest (1) that children in the rural, indigenous communities in the Valley of Oaxaca are relatively undernourished compared to children in Ladinoized and urban communities, and (2) that rural-to-urban migration does not necessarily result in improved growth status.     

Growth of rural and urban children in the valley of Oaxaca,Mexico

Weight, stature, arm circumference, and the triceps skinfold were measured in 1,410 school children, 6 through 14 years of age, from two urban colonias in the city of Oaxaca de Juarez (n = 479), and from two rural Ladino (n = 467) and two rural Zapotec (n = 464) communities in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Children from rural Ladino communities and urban colonias are significantly taller, heavier, and more muscular than children in rural Zapotec communities. The differences between rural Ladino and urban colonia children favor the former, particularly for weight and stature. These observations thus suggest (1) that children in the rural, indigenous communities in the Valley of Oaxaca are relatively undernourished compared to children in Ladinoized and urban communities, and (2) that rural-to-urban migration does not necessarily result in improved growth status.