Growth of Aeromonas hydrophila at Low Concentrations of Substrates Added to Tap Water

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The ability of an Aeromonas hydrophila isolate obtained from filtered river water to grow at low substrate concentrations was studied in batch experiments with tap water supplied with low concentrations of substrates. Growth was assessed by colony count determinations. The isolate only multiplied in the used tap water (2 to 3 mg of dissolved organic carbon per liter) after the addition of a small amount of an assimilable carbon compound. d-Glucose especially caused growth of the organism even at initial concentrations below 10 μg of C per liter. At initial glucose concentrations below the Ks value (12 μg of C per liter), generation times and yield (colony-forming units per milligram of substrate-C) were nonlinear with 1/initial glucose concentrations and initial glucose concentrations, respectively. From these observations, the maintenance coefficient m was calculated (m = 0.015 mg of glucose per mg [dry wt] per h at 12°C). At initial concentrations below the Ks value of starch (73 μg of C per liter), no growth was observed, but complete use of starch occurred in these situations after the addition of 10 μg of glucose-C per liter. The results of this study show that information of ecological significance may be obtained by very simple batch experiments. Moreover, the isolate studied may be used in growth experiments to assess the maximum concentration of glucose which might be present in water, particularly tap water.

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