Back T. Kyan and T. Higa
University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
Full Paper (PDF File: 72KB)
Abstract
Studies were initiated to elucidate the mechanisms involved in culturing photosynthetic bacteria found in solutions of Effective Microorganisms (EM), The study isolated a few types of purple nonsuphur bacteria from a culture of EM. An important species identified in the culture on the basis of the standard methods used for photosynthetic bacteria was R. palustris. The mechanisms of interaction between this species, Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which are two important species found in EM were determined under in vitro conditions. L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae promoted the growth of R. palustris even in the presence of molasses, although its growth is generally inhibited by molasses, which is the basis of EM. The survival of R. palustris was poor under conditions found in EM. In contrast, this species could survive the low pH in a nutrient rich medium or in one containing extracts of S. cerevisiae or L. plantarum. The results presented the potential of using lactic acid bacteria and yeast to promote the growth of photosynthetic bacteria in mixed culture as required for producing solutions of EM.