Prediction of intracellular storage polymers using quantitative image analysis ...

• Author(s): Mesquita, D. P. ; Leal, C. ; Cunha, J. R. ; Oehmen, Adrian ; Amaral, A. L. ; Reis, Maria A. M. ; Ferreira, E. C.
• Date: 2013
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/24318
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Partial least squares; EBPR wastewater treatment systems; Image analysis; Intracellular polymers; Polyhydroxyalkanoates; Glycogen
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The present study focuses on predicting the concentration of intracellular storage polymers in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems. For that purpose, quantitative image analysis techniques were developed for determining the intracellular concentrations of PHA (PHB and PHV) with Nile blue and glycogen with aniline blue staining. Partial least squares (PLS) were used to predict the standard analytical values of these polymers by the proposed methodology. Identification of the aerobic and anaerobic stages proved to be crucial for improving the assessment of PHA, PHB and PHV intracellular concentrations. Current Nile blue based methodology can be seen as a feasible starting point for further enhancement. Glycogen detection based on the developed aniline blue staining methodology combined with the image analysis data proved to be a promising technique, towards the elimination of the need for analytical off-line measurements.