The relationship between isoprenoid quinone and phosphorus removal activity

The relationship between phosphorus removal activity and isoprenoid quinone, the characteristic of the bacteria community structure, and the population dynamics in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) activated sludge processes for phosphorus removal were investigated using laboratory-scale SBR activated sludge processes. The increase of ubiquinone-9 (Q-9) and menaquinone-10 (MK-10) contents in the activated sludge accompanied an enhanced phosphorus removal activity. It was found that the relationship between phosphorus removal activity and Q-9 and ubiquinone-8 (Q-8) contents of the activated sludge was dependent neither on the organic substrate composition, nor on the reaction time. However, the correlation between phosphorus release activity and menaquinone varied with different organic substrates. It can be estimated that the enhanced phosphorus removal capability of activated sludge was due not to the increase in the phosphorus removal capability of bio-P-bacteria, but due to the increase in their populations, i.e. species succession of bacteria in activated sludge ecosystems.