Evaluation of the sulfate-reducing bacterial population associated with stored swine slurry

Hydrogen sulfide, produced by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), is one of the most potent malodors emitted from anaerobic swine waste storage systems. However, little is known about the prevalence and diversity of SRB in those systems. The goals of this study were to evaluate the SRB population in swine manure storage systems and to develop quantitative, real-time PCR (QRT-PCR) assays to target four of the SRB groups. Dissimilatory sulfite reductase (DSR) gene sequences were obtained from swine slurry stored in underground pits (43 clones) or in lagoons (34 clones). QRT-PCR assays were designed to target the dsrA gene of four novel groups of SRB. Sequences of dsrA clones from slurry samples grouped with those from three different cultured SRB: Desulfobulbus sp. (46 clones), Desulfovibrio sp. (24 clones and 5 isolates), and Desulfobacterium sp. (7 clones). However, DsrA sequences from swine slurry clones were generally less than 85% similar to those of cultured organisms. SRB from all four targeted SRB groups were detected in underground waste storage pits (6.6×103–8.5×107dsrA copies mL−1 slurry), while only two groups of SRB were detected in lagoons (3.2×105–2.5×106dsrA copies mL−1 slurry). To date, this is the only study to evaluate the phylogeny and concentration of SRB in any livestock waste storage system. The new QRT-PCR assays should facilitate sensitive, specific detection of the four novel groups of SRB in livestock waste storage systems.