High salt concentrations can cause plasmolysis and loss of activity of cells, but the salt-torlerant bacterium can endure the high salt concentrations in wastewater. In this research 7 salt-torlerant bacteria, which could survive in dry powder products and could degrade organic contaminants in saline wastewater, were isolated from a membrane bioreactor. The strain NY6 which showed the fastest growth rate, best property for organic matter degradation and could survive in dry powder more than 3 months was selected and characterized. It was classified as Bacillus aerius based on the analysis of the morphological and physiological properties as well as the 16 S rRNA sequence and Neigh borjoining tree. The strain NY6 could survive in the salinity up to 6% and the optimal growth salinity is2%; it belongs to a slightly halophilic bacterium. The capability of its dry powder products for COD removal was 800 mg COD/(g·day) in synthesized saline wastewater with salinity of 2%. According to salt-tolerant mechanism research, when the salinity was below 2%, the stain NY6 absorbed K+and Na+to maintain osmotic equilibrium, and when the salinity was above 2%, the NY6 kept its life by producing a large amount of spores.
Xiaohui ZhangJie GaoFangbo ZhaoYuanyuan ZhaoZhanshuang Li
