Aquatic ecosystem as a bioreactor: water purification and some other functions
Ostroumov, S.A.
Rivista di Biologia 97(1): 67-78
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0035-6050 PMID: 15648211 Document Number: 567902
A fundamental concept is proposed of aquatic ecosystem as a bioreactor that carries out the function of water purification in natural water bodies and streams. The ecosystem as a bioreactor has the following characteristic attributes: (1) it is a large-scale (large-volume) bioreactor; (2) it is a diversified (in terms of the number of taxa and the scope of functional activities) bioreactor; (3) it possesses a broad range of biocatalytic (chemical-transforming and degrading) capabilities. New experimental data on xenobiotics-induced inhibition of the functioning of the molluscs Unio tu- midus, U. pictorum, M. galloprovincialis and Limnaea stagnalis emphasize the potential ecological hazard from sublethal concentrations of pollutants (including those exemplified by synthetic surfactants and detergents).