A Minority Population of Non-dye-decolorizing Bacillus subtilis enhances the Azo Dye-decolorizing Activity of Enterococcus faecalis

Microbes live in communities in biological wastewater treatment plants and in the intestines. However, limited information is currently available on the mechanisms by which minority bacterial populations assist other bacteria besides syntrophic relationships as well as on the microbial food web. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of non-dye-decolorizing Bacillus subtilis strain S4ga at population levels ranging between 0.04 and 4% on the activity of dye-decolorizing Enterococcus faecalis strain T6a1 using a dye decolorization assay. The results obtained revealed that the minority population of B. subtilis S4ga enhanced the dye-decolorizing activity of E. faecalis T6a1, resulting in a shorter lag time and longer active time of dye decolorization. These effects were related to redox potential values rather than O2 concentrations. Comparisons of the extracellular metabolites in individual incubations of E. faecalis T6a1 and B. subtilis S4ga and a co-incubation suggested a mutual relationship through the cross-feeding of specific amino acids (tyrosine, methionine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, valine, and leucine from B. subtilis S4ga to E. faecalis T6a1; glutamine, histidine, aspartic acid, and proline from E. faecalis T6a1 to B. subtilis S4ga). An analysis of intracellular primary metabolites indicated that the arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway, an ATP-producing energy-generating process, was more strongly activated in co-incubated E. faecalis T6a1 than in E. faecalis T6a1 incubated alone. These results suggest that a co-incubation with B. subtilis S4ga promoted ATP production by E. faecalis T6a1 cells and enhanced its dye-decolorizing activity.