Project description:The physiological and transcriptional response of Nitrosomonas europaea biofilms to phenol and toluene was examined and compared to suspended cells. Biofilms were grown in Drip Flow Biofilm Reactors under continuous flow conditions of growth medium containing ammonia as growth substrate. The responses of N. europaea biofilms to the aromatic hydrocarbons phenol and toluene were determined during short-term (3 h) additions of each compound to the biofilms. Ammonia oxidation in the biofilms was inhibited 50% by 60 uM phenol and 100 uM toluene. These concentrations were chosen for microarray analysis of phenol- and toluene-exposed N. europaea biofilms. Liquid batch cultures of exponentially growing N. europaea cells were harvested alongside the biofilms to determine differential gene expression between attached and suspended growth of N. europaea.
Project description:Pure cultures of ammonia oxidizing bacterium, Nitrosomonas europaea, are exposed to cyanide in pseudo-steady state batch reactor in presence of ammonia. Nitrosomonas europaea are generally regarded as the most sensitive organism to various inhibitors commonly encountered in the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). To find stress genes of Nitrosomonas europaea to cyanide known as inhibitor of respiratory process, whole-genome transcript response to cyanide was determined in this research using microarray and qRT-PCR. When 1 uM NaCN inhibits nitrification about 50 %, transcript levels of 35 genes were increased while transcript levels of 29 genes were decreased, showing more than 2-fold in total 2460 genes. moeZ (NE2353), homologue with rhodanases related to detoxification of CN-, showed 7-fold up regulation and gene cluster including moeZ also showed significant up regulation. Keywords: cyanide, stress response, moeZ
