Unraveling Cyanobacteria Ecology in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP)

• Tipo: Outra Publicação em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2011

Autores

Joana Martins (Autor) Outra; Luisa Peixe (Autor) FFUP; Vitor M Vasconcelos (Autor) FCUP

Revista

Título: Microbial Ecology

Vol. 62 Nº 2

Páginas: 241-256

ISSN: 0095-3628

Editora: Springer Nature

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 35 Citações

Scopus - 44 Citações

Classificação Científica

FOS: Ciências exactas e naturais > Ciências biológicas

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-002-P78

DOI: 10.1007/s00248-011-9806-y

Abstract (EN): Cyanobacteria may be important components of wastewater treatment plants' (WWTP) biological treatment, reaching levels of 100% of the total phytoplankton density in some systems. The occurrence of cyanobacteria and their associated toxins in these systems present a risk to the aquatic environments and to public health, changing drastically the ecology of microbial communities and associated organisms. Many studies reveal that cyanotoxins, namely microcystins may not act as antibacterial compounds but they might have negative impacts on protozoans, inhibiting their growing and respiration rates and leading to changes in cellular morphology, decreasing consequently the treatment efficacy in WWTP. On the other side, flagellates and ciliates may ingest some cyanobacteria species while the formation of colonies by these prokaryotes may be seen as a defense mechanism against predation. Problems regarding the occurrence of cyanobacteria in WWTP are not limited to toxin production. Other cyanobacterial secondary metabolites may act as antibacterial compounds leading to the disruption of bacterial communities that biologically convert organic materials in WWTP being fundamental to the efficacy of the process. Studies reveal that the potential antibacterial capacity differs according to cyanobacteria specie and it seems to be more effective in Gram (+) bacteria. Thus, to understand the effects of cyanobacterial communities in the efficiency of the waste water treatment it will be necessary to unravel the complex interactions between cyanobacterial populations, bacteria, and protozoa in WWTP in situ studies.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 16