Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge

Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge

Published on: September 26, 2016

Protein extraction from activated sludge: an analytical approach.

M Ras¹, E Girbal-Neuhauser, E Paul

¹LBAE, Laboratoire de Biologie Appliquée à l'Agro-Alimentaire et à l'Environnement, Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Université Toulouse III, Auch, France.

|December 11, 2007

Summary

This study compared methods for extracting exopolymeric substances (EPS) from activated sludge. The bicinchoninic acid (BCA) method is best for quantifying proteins, and triton treatments efficiently extract proteins from EPS.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Optimizing Pre-Operative Clinical Staging in Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Thoracic cancer·2025

Same author

Long-term outcomes of patients who received extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) following in-hospital cardiac arrest: Analysis of EXCEL registry data.

Critical care and resuscitation : journal of the Australasian Academy of Critical Care Medicine·2025

Same author

Next-generation precision medicine for suicidality prevention.

Translational psychiatry·2024

Same author

Modelling biofilm development: The importance of considering the link between EPS distribution, detachment mechanisms and physical properties.

Water research·2023

Same author

Clinical utility of repeat fetal echocardiography in congenital heart disease.

Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology·2023

Same author

Patterns of endocardial fibroelastosis without atrioventricular block in fetuses exposed to anti-Ro/SSA antibodies.

Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology·2023

Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Biochemistry
Analytical Chemistry

Background:

Exopolymeric substances (EPS) are crucial components of activated sludge flocs.
Efficient extraction and quantification of EPS proteins are vital for understanding sludge properties and treatment processes.
Existing methods for EPS protein extraction and quantification have limitations regarding accuracy and interference.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the efficiency of different mechanical and chemical treatments for exopolymeric substance (EPS) extraction from activated sludge.
To assess the compatibility of these extraction methods with common protein quantification techniques, specifically bicinchoninic acid (BCA) and modified Lowry assays.
To identify the optimal extraction and quantification strategy for accurate EPS protein determination.

More Related Videos

Extraction of Non-Protein Amino Acids from Cyanobacteria for Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Extraction of Non-Protein Amino Acids from Cyanobacteria for Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Published on: December 9, 2022

The MPLEx Protocol for Multi-omic Analyses of Soil Samples

The MPLEx Protocol for Multi-omic Analyses of Soil Samples

Published on: May 30, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge

Extraction of Structural Extracellular Polymeric Substances from Aerobic Granular Sludge

Published on: September 26, 2016

Extraction of Non-Protein Amino Acids from Cyanobacteria for Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Extraction of Non-Protein Amino Acids from Cyanobacteria for Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Published on: December 9, 2022

The MPLEx Protocol for Multi-omic Analyses of Soil Samples

The MPLEx Protocol for Multi-omic Analyses of Soil Samples

Published on: May 30, 2018

Main Methods:

Two activated sludge samples were subjected to various mechanical (e.g., ultrasound, ultraturax) and chemical (e.g., triton, cationic exchange resin) treatments.
Protein content was measured using bicinchoninic acid (BCA) and modified Lowry methods.
Interference from sludge compounds and chemical agents was evaluated for each quantification method.

Main Results:

Mechanical disruption minimally impacted protein measurements by BCA and modified Lowry methods.
Cationic exchange resin and triton showed significant interference with the modified Lowry method, but not the BCA method.
The BCA method was deemed more suitable due to less interference from inner sludge compounds compared to the modified Lowry method.
Triton treatments, particularly Triton/Triton and Ultraturax/Triton, yielded the highest protein extraction efficiencies (182 and 148 mg eq.BSA g(-1)VSS, respectively).
Protease activity varied significantly with extraction protocols, with ultrasound and triton treatments showing preferential protease extraction.

Conclusions:

The bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay is the recommended method for quantifying proteins in sludge extracts due to its robustness against interference.
Combining mechanical pre-treatment with chemical extraction, especially using triton, enhances EPS protein yield.
Optimizing the coupled extraction and quantification method is critical for reliable EPS determination in environmental and biological studies.