Abstract
The molecular diversity of the purple photosynthetic bacteria was assessed during temporal pigmentation changes in four interconnected wastewater stabilization ponds treating domestic wastewater by denaturant gel gradient electrophoresis method applying pufM gene. Results revealed high phylogenetic diversity of the purple phototrophic anoxygenic bacteria community characterized by the presence of the purple non-sulfur, purple sulfur, and purple aerobic photosynthetic anoxygenic bacteria. This phototrophic bacterial assemblage was dominated by the purple non-sulfur bacteria group (59.3 %) with six different genera followed by the purple sulfur community (27.8 %) with four genera and finally 12.9 % of the pufM gene sequences were assigned throughout the aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial group. The purple phototrophic bacterial community was characterized by the presence of salt-dependant bacterial species belonging to the genus Marichromatium, Thiorhodococcus, Erythrobacter, and Roseobacter. The wastewater treatment plant performances were unsatisfactory, and the biological and chemical parameters suggested that the purple photosynthetic bloom was correlated with the eutrophic state.