University of Tehran/Springer International Journal of Environmental Research 1735-6865 9 1 2015 01 01 MicrobiologicalAssessment of the BiofilterMatrixWithin a Biofiltration systemTreating Borehole water in KwaZulu-Natal (SouthAfrica) 263 272 896 10.22059/ijer.2015.896 EN L.S. Beukes Discipline of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa S. Schmidt Discipline of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa Journal Article 2014 12 31 To assess the microbiological status of a biofiltration system used to treat borehole water, filter<br />matrix samples were analyzed after staining for the presence of active biofilms using confocal laser scanning<br />microscopy (CLSM). CLSM revealed the presence of biofilms on the filter matrix with actively metabolizing<br />microbial cells present. Thereafter, heterotrophs,manganese oxidizing bacteria (MOB) and iron oxidizing bacteria<br />(IOB) present in the biofilms were quantified. For heterotrophs a count of 2.9×107 cfu/g was established using<br />R2A agar while counts for presumptive MOB and IOB were established as 2.4×107 cfu/g and 3.1×107 cfu/g<br />respectively. In addition, a clone library was established using DNAextracted from a pooled filter matrix sample<br />to assess the diversity of bacteria present within the biofilter matrix. A total of 100 randomly selected clones<br />were separated into 14 unique operational taxonomic unit (OTU’s) based upon restriction patterns of amplified<br />partial 16S rRNA genes. Overall, 38% of the clones were assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria, 13% to the<br />phylum Actinobacteria, 24% to the phylum Firmicutes, 21% to the phylum Nitrospirae and 4% to the phylum<br />Verrucomicrobia. https://ijer.ut.ac.ir/article_896_061412e4a03c02f9902576ec55ebbe77.pdf