Activated sludge process, the most commonly used system for
biological wastewater treatment, is driven by a community of
microorganisms that play a key role in the conversion of the organic
matter and removal of nutrients from wastewater. In this artificial
ecosystem, filamentous and floc-forming bacteria co-exist in a
dynamic equilibrium. However, filamentous bacteria overgrowth lead
to a decrease of performance of the plant by causing two well-known
phenomena: bulking and/or foaming. Sphaerotilus natans is a
filamentous bacterium that can cause or contribute to the malfunction
of these systems by leading to bulking occurrence. Bacteriophages are
regarded as possible novel treatment against the filamentous
overgrowth. In this work, the isolation and preliminary
characterization of a new lytic bacteriophage against S. natans are
described. Results clearly indicate the potential effect of this
bacteriophage for future wastewater treatment system management.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of
UID/BIO/04469 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684), the project INNOVCONTROLFIL (PTDC/AAG-TEC/3331/2014), the Grant SFRH/BPD/73720/2010 to Susana Costez and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004)
funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
