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Updated: May 6, 2026

Aerobic Biodegradation Testing of Materials Using a Natural Marine Seawater Inoculum and Closed Loop Respirometer
Published on: October 24, 2025
A computer study of the evolution of aerobic heterotrophic bacterial populations in sewage and river waters
1Laboratoire d'Hydrobiologie Marine, Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34060, Montpellier Cedex, France.
Abstract:
The biodegradation of six surface active agents tested. The biochemical characteristics of the aerobic heterotrophic bacteria present in Montpellier waste waters and in Rhône water, before and after degradation, were studied by a standardized microbiological method. Four hundred strains isolated from these populations were compared to 29 reference strains by computer analysis. The reference strains were first grouped in classes (single linkage). Then the strains were compared first to these classes, and then to each reference strain. Whereas the bacterial populations were widely distributed before biodegradation, after degradation they were restricted to a few prevailing genera:Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes, andKlebsiella.
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