Bioluminescent reporter bacterium and methods for toxicity monitoring in biological wastewater treatment systems

摘要

The present invention provides a reporter bacterium, comprising a bacterium that occurs naturally in a biological sludge and that contains a nucleic acid that encodes a reporter protein not found in the naturally occurring bacterium. The nucleic acid can encode a bioluminescent reporter protein. A method and apparatus are also provided for detecting the presence of toxicity in a wastewater treatment influent stream, comprising contacting the influent with a reporter bacterium of the present invention; monitoring the expression of the reporter protein by the reporter bacterium; and correlating a reduction in the expression of the reporter protein with the presence of toxicity. In an additional embodiment, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for determining the effect of a known dose of an oxidative phosphorylation decoupling agent on biological wastewater sludge, comprising contacting a sample of the sludge containing a known dose of the decoupling agent and a control sample, with a reporter bacterium of the present invention; comparing the signal output by the reporter bacteria in the sludge sample containing the decoupling agent with the signal output by the reporter bacteria in the sludge sample not containing the decoupling agent; and correlating a decrease in signal output in the decoupled sample as compared to the signal output in the control sample with an action of the decoupling agent, whereby the effect of the known dose of the decoupling agent is determined.