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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Assaying for Inorganic Polyphosphate in Bacteria
Published on: January 21, 2019
Bacterial phosphate metabolism and its application to phosphorus recovery and industrial bioprocesses
Ryuichi Hirota1, Akio Kuroda, Junichi Kato
1Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8530, Japan. hirota@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) has become a well-established process and is currently applied in many full-scale wastewater treatment processes. Phosphorus recovered from EBPR waste sludge can be used as a raw material for the fertilizer industry, if a sound recycling strategy is developed and applied. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on phosphate metabolism in bacteria, focusing on molecular mechanisms of bacterial polyphosphate (polyP) accumulation. A simple method for releasing polyP from EBPR waste sludge and recovering phosphorus in a reusable form for the fertilizer industry is presented. We also describe a recent development of bioprocesses for the expanded use of polyP in the production of value-added chemicals.
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