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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Development of Sulfidogenic Sludge from Marine Sediments and Trichloroethylene Reduction in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor
Published on: October 15, 2015
Essential interactions between Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and heterotrophic microorganisms during a wastewater sludge
D Fournier1, R Lemieux, D Couillard
1Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-Eau), Université, du Québec, 2800 rue Einstein, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada, G1V 4C7. diane.fournier@nrc.ca
Abstract:
The stimulating effect of heterotrophic microorganisms was investigated on the growth and on the ferrous iron oxidation of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans in synthetic media and in wastewater sludge. The addition of a sediment. Rhodotorula rubra isolate or a strain of T. acidophilus on two-layer agarose-gelled medium doubled the plating efficiency of T. ferrooxidans. In liquid cultures, R. rubra had a slight but significant effect on the growth rate of T. ferrooxidans. Moreover, the yeast allowed a faster initiation of the ferrous iron oxidation and acidification by T. ferrooxidans. In the bioleaching process, the co-culture of T. ferrooxidans with R. rubra or with the indigenous microbial assemblage from sludge was shown to be essential since the pure culture of T. ferrooxidans failed to oxidize ferrous iron and to acidify wastewater sludge. These results emphasize the importance of active heterotrophic microorganisms in the metal bioleaching activity of T. ferrooxidans in sludge.
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