Relationships between actinomycete populations and organic matter degradation in Lake Mulwala, southeastern Australia

Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre

MDFRC item.

This communication examines the proposal that actinomycete populations, and thus the occurrence of taste and odour problems in potable water supplies, are related to the input of organic matter to reservoirs. The number of actinomycetes in Lake Mulwala, a man-made lake in southeastern Australia, ranged from 2-80 ml-1 in the water column, and 2.7-12 × 104cm-3 in the sediments. Population densities in the water column and sediments were greatest in winter and summer, respectively. They were not highly correlated with protein or polysaccharide degradation. The weak relationship between actinomycete numbers and the rate of organic-matter breakdown was probably due to metabolic inactivity of the bacteria, since actinomycetes in the sediments occurred mainly as spores rather than as vegetative cells. Limiting the input of organic matter, for instance by the removal of fringing vegetation, will have little effect on actinomycete populations in this reservoir.