Continuous cultivation and recovery of magnetotactic bacteria

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) may be manipulated by the application of magnetic fields. This effect enables motile, magnetic field susceptible MTB to be utilised in the removal of contaminants, such as heavy metals, from wastewater. This paper discusses a process designed for continuous cultivation and extraction of metal loaded MTB. The performance of this recovery system is characterized here with respect to bacterial motility, the number of passes through the separator and the processing rate.