Resumen: Slime formation is a serious problem nowadays
in the paper industry. Some enterobacteria are associated
with the formation of slime deposits in paper and board
mills. Detection and characterization of slime forming
bacteria, belonging to the genus Enterobacter, Raoultella,
and Klebsiella have been achieved
by fluorescence in situ
hybridization (FISH), using one probe based on the
enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence
and other two rRNA targeted oligonucleotide probes. The
effects of three kinds of antimicrobiological products
(biocides, dispersants, and enzymes) on these enterobacterial cells were analyzed by flow cytometry (FC). Biocides Butrol 1009 and 1072 were the most effective microbiocides against all enterobacterial cells analyzed, reaching 90% of dead bacteria after 24 h. However, the enzymatic treatment (Buzyme) was not equally efficient on enterobacteria and its microbiocide capacity varied depending on the type of microorganism. FISH and FC were effective tools to detect important slime forming enterobacteria and to select specific treatments to control microbial problems in the paper industry.
Palabras clave: FISH, Flow cytometry, Papermaking, Slime control
