Isolation and Identification of Photosynthetic Bacterium Useful for Wastewater Treatment

For wastewater treatment and utilization of the biomass, a photosynthetic bacterium was isolated based on its cell growth rate, cell mass, and assimilating ability of organic acids. The isolate was a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium that contained a single polar flagellum and formed a lamellar intracytoplasmic membrane (ICM) system, including bacteriochlorophyll a. The major isoprenoid quinone component was identified as ubiquinone Q-10, and the fatty acid composition was characterized as to contain relatively large amount of C-16:0 (18.74%) and C-18:1 (59.23%). Based on its morphology, phototrophic properties, quinone component, and fatty acid composition, the isolate appeared to be closely related to the Rhodopseudomonas subgroup of purple nonsulfur bacteria. A phylogenetic analysis of the isolate using its 16S rRNA gene sequence data also supported the phenotypic findings, and classified the isolate closely related to Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Accordingly, the nomenclature of the isolate was proposed as Rhodopseudomonas palustris KUGB306. A bench-scale photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) reactor using the isolate was designed and operated for the treatment of soybean curd wastewater.