'Dark Matter' Parasite Could Help Reduce Wastewater Foaming

Foaming has long been a challenge in wastewater treatment, interrupting biological processes and sometimes requiring chemical applications to manage. Recently, researchers at La Trobe University discovered a bacterium that could help reduce foaming without the use of costly, environmentally damaging chemicals.

Certain bacteria, especially Gordonia amarae, can cause stable foam in treatment tanks. That’s partially due to the bacteria’s sticky outer layer. A new report published in Nature Communications reveals that a novel parasite, Mycosynbacter amalyticus, attacks and kills Gordonia amarae and similar bacteria. This parasite is one of several “dark matter” microbes that scientists and wastewater treatment professionals have detected in wastewater but do not fully understand.