Pragmatic trials in Health care systems (PRACTIHC)

In many developing countries, as Colombia, there is an urgent need for further technical develoment od wastrwater treatment systems more cost-efficient: The anaerobic process is a simple and sustainable wastewater treatment method that has evolved rapidly over the last 20 years and seems to be becoming more popular. However, there is still a need for basis information about the micro-organisms involved in the anaerobic process. The input of proteins into anaerobic wastewater treatment is large, but the degradation of proteins has not been studied as as extensively as has has been carbohydrate fermentation. In some environments, the major proteolytic bacteria are not known and the biochimical pathways for the degradation of certain amino acidshave only recently been elucidated. The aim of this project is to study the community structure of anaerobic non-saccharlolytic, proteolytic micro.organisms of two anaerobic protein-rich ecosystems (anaerobic waterwater system and thermal mineral wates). This knowledge will lead to the development of new strategies for the treatment of protein-rich wastes and identify micro-organisms that could be used for testing as inocula for improving protein degradation in anaerobic wastewater treatment systems.