Characterization of Sulfate Reducing Bacteria Isolated from Cooling Towers

In this study, the occurrence and metabolic capacities of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) were studied in 36 water samples taken from cooling towers of 30 different buildings, such as hotels and business centres in Istanbul. SRB were present in 14 cooling towers out of 30 (46.6%) buildings and while the lowest concentration of SRB was 10 cells/mL, the highest concentration was determined as 10⁴ cells/mL. After the distribution of SRB within cooling towers was determined, several strains of SRB were isolated and characterized metabolically. The isolated strains were composed of vibroid cells, growing anaerobically by using sulfate as electron acceptor and lactate or pyruvate as electron donor. They could be related to the genus Desulfovibrio. In addition, the recorded temperature of water samples was between 12 and 33C and a significant relationship between the number of SRB and the water temperatures was not found.