Proton motive force generation from stored polymers for the uptake of acetate under anaerobic conditions

Abstract

The bacteria facilitating enhanced biological phosphorus removal gain a selective advantage from intracellularly stored polymer-driven substrate uptake under anaerobic conditions during sequential anaerobic: aerobic cycling. Mechanisms for these unusual membrane transport processes were proposed and experimentally validated using selective inhibitors and highly-enriched cultures of a polyphosphate-accumulating organism, Accumulibacter, and a glycogen-accumulating organism, Competibacter. Acetate uptake by both Accumulibacter and Competibacter was driven by a proton motive force (PMF). Stored polymers were used to generate the PMF - Accumulibacter used phosphate efflux through the Pit transpo..