Bacterial Dynamics of Biofilm Development During Toluene Degradation by Burkholderia vietnamiensis G4 in a Gas Phase Membrane Bioreactor

In this study, the dynamics of living cells (LC) and dead cells (DC) in a laboratory-scale biofilm membrane bioreactor for waste gas treatment was examined. Toluene was used as a model pollutant. The bacterial cells were enumerated as fluoromicroscopic counts during a 140 operating day period using BacLight nucleic acid staining in combination with epifluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CSLM). Overall, five different phases could be distinguished during the biofilm development: (A) cell attachment, (B) pollutant limitation, (C) biofilm establishment and colonization, (D) colonized biofilm, and (E) biofilm erosion. The bioreactor was operated under different conditions by applying different pollutant concentrations. An optimum toluene removal of 89% was observed at a loading rate of 14.4 kg m(-3) d(-1). A direct correlation between the biodegradation rate of the reactor and the dynamics of biofilm development could be demonstrated. This study shows the first description of biofilm development during gaseous toluene degradation in MBR.