Abundance of amoA genes of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in activated sludge of full-scale wastewater treatment plants

Effects of partially saturated conditions on the metabolically active microbiome and on nitrogen removal in vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands

Nitrogen dynamics and its association to metabolically active microbial populations were assessed in two vertical subsurface vertical flow (VF) wetlands treating urban wastewater. These VF wetlands were operated in parallel with unsaturated (UVF) and partially saturated (SVF) configurations. The SVF wetland exhibited almost 2-fold higher total nitrogen removal rate (5 g TN m^-2 d^-1) in relation to the UVF wetland (3 g TN m^-2 d^-1), as well as a low NO_x-N accumulation (1 mg L^-1 vs. 26 mg L^-1 in SVF and UVF wetland effluents, respectively). After 6 months of operation, ammonia oxidizing prokaryotes (AOP) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) displayed an important role in both wetlands. Oxygen availability and ammonia limiting conditions promoted shifts on the metabolically active nitrifying community within 'nitrification aggregates' of wetland biofilms. Ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) and Nitrospira spp. overcame ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the oxic layers of both wetlands. Microbial quantitative and diversity assessments revealed a positive correlation between Nitrobacter and AOA, whereas Nitrospira resulted negatively correlated with Nitrobacter and AOB populations. The denitrifying gene expression was enhanced mainly in the bottom layer of the SVF wetland, in concomitance with the depletion of NO_x-N from wastewater. Functional gene expression of nitrifying and denitrifying populations combined with the active microbiome diversity brought new insights on the microbial nitrogen-cycling occurring within VF wetland biofilms under different operational conditions.

Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea (AOA) Play with Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) in Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater

An increase in the number of publications in recent years indicates that besides ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) may play an important role in nitrogen removal from wastewater, gaining wide attention in the wastewater engineering field. This paper reviews the current knowledge on AOA and AOB involved in wastewater treatment systems and summarises the environmental factors affecting AOA and AOB. Current findings reveal that AOA have stronger environmental adaptability compared with AOB under extreme environmental conditions (such as low temperature and low oxygen level). However, there is still little information on the cooperation and competition relationship between AOA and AOB, and other microbes related to nitrogen removal, which needs further exploration. Furthermore, future studies are proposed to develop novel nitrogen removal processes dominated by AOA by parameter optimization.

Nitrifying and Denitrifying Bacterial Communities in Advanced Nitrogen-Removal Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems

Advanced N-removal onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) rely on nitrification and denitrification to remove N from wastewater. Despite their use to reduce N contamination, we know little about microbial communities controlling N removal in these systems. We used quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing targeting nitrous oxide reductase () and bacterial ammonia monooxygenase () to determine the size, structure, and composition of communities containing these genes. We analyzed water samples from three advanced N-removal technologies in 38 systems in five towns in Rhode Island in August 2016, and in nine systems from one town in June, August, and October 2016. Abundance of ranged from 9.1 × 10 to 9 × 10 copies L and differed among technologies and over time, whereas bacterial abundance ranged from 0 to 1.9 × 10 copies L and was not different among technologies or over time. Richness and diversity of -but not -differed over time, with median Shannon diversity indices ranging from 2.61 in October to 4.53 in August. We observed weak community similarity patterns driven by geography and technology in The most abundant and containing bacteria were associated with water distribution and municipal wastewater treatment plants, such as and species. Our results show that communities in N-removal OWTS technologies differ slightly in terms of size and diversity as a function of time, but not geography, whereas communities are similar across time, technology, and geography. Furthermore, community composition appears to be stable across technologies, geography, and time for .

Ammonia Monooxygenase-Mediated Cometabolic Biotransformation and Hydroxylamine-Mediated Abiotic Transformation of Micropollutants in an AOB/NOB Coculture

Biotransformation of various micropollutants (MPs) has been found to be positively correlated with nitrification in activated sludge communities. To further elucidate the roles played by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), we investigated the biotransformation capabilities of an NOB pure culture ( Nitrobacter sp.) and an AOB ( Nitrosomonas europaea)/NOB ( Nitrobacter sp.) coculture for 15 MPs, whose biotransformation was reported previously to be associated with nitrification. The NOB pure culture did not biotransform any investigated MP, whereas the AOB/NOB coculture was capable of biotransforming six MPs (i.e., asulam, bezafibrate, fenhexamid, furosemide, indomethacin, and rufinamide). Transformation products (TPs) were identified, and tentative structures were proposed. Inhibition studies with octyne, an ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) inhibitor, suggested that AMO was the responsible enzyme for MP transformation that occurred cometabolically. For the first time, hydroxylamine, a key intermediate of all aerobic ammonia oxidizers, was found to react with several MPs at concentrations typically occurring in AOB batch cultures. All of these MPs were also biotransformed by the AOB/NOB coculture. Moreover, the same asulam TPs were detected in both biotransformation and hydroxylamine-treated abiotic transformation experiments, whereas rufinamide TPs formed from biological transformation were not detected during hydroxylamine-mediated abiotic transformation, which was consistent with the inability of rufinamide abiotic transformation by hydroxylamine. Thus, in addition to cometabolism likely carried out by AMO, an abiotic transformation route indirectly mediated by AMO might also contribute to MP biotransformation by AOB.

Effects of the ammonium loading rate on nitrite-oxidizing activity during nitrification at a high dose of inorganic carbon

In this study, the effects of the ammonium loading rate (ALR) and inorganic carbon loading rate (ILR) on the nitrification performance and composition of a nitrifying bacterial community were investigated in a moving bed biofilm reactor, using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) sponge cubes as a supporting carrier. Between the two ALRs of 0.36 and 2.16 kg-N m^-1 d^-1, stable partial nitritation was achieved at the higher ALR. Inorganic carbon was dosed at high levels: 33.1, 22.0, 16.4, 11.0, and 5.4 times the theoretical amount. Nonetheless, nitrification efficiency was not affected by the ILR at the two ALRs. Quantitative PCR analysis of ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria revealed that ALR is an important determinant of partial nitritation by accumulating ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the nitrification system. In comparison, two nitrite-oxidizing bacterial genera (Nitrobacter and Nitrospira) showed almost the same relative abundance at various ALRs and ILRs. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism targeting the gene of ammonia monooxygenase subunit A revealed that Nitrosomonas europaea dominated under all conditions.

Use of aged sludge bioaugmentation in two-stage activated sludge system to enhance the biodegradation of toxic organic compounds in high strength wastewater

This research investigates the toxic organic compounds biodegradation efficiency of two-stage activated sludge systems with (bioaugmented) and without aged sludge bioaugmentation (non-bioaugmented). The influent was a mixture of leachate and agriculture wastewater (1:1, v/v), used as the representative high strength wastewater. The bioaugmented and non-bioaugmented systems were operated in parallel, with three levels (low, moderate, and high) of concentrations of organics, nitrogen, and toxic organic compounds in the influent (conditions 1, 2, and 3). The results showed that both systems could efficiently degrade the organic compounds. Nevertheless, the toxic organic compounds biodegradation efficiency of the bioaugmented system was higher than that of the non-bioaugmented one. The bioaugmentation enhanced the overall removal efficiency under conditions 1 and 2. However, the bioaugmented system became less effective under condition 3. Further analysis indicated that the bacterial groups essential to the toxic organic compounds biodegradation were abundant in the aged sludge, including heterotrophic bacteria, heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria, and nitrifying bacteria. The abundance of the effective bacteria improved the biodegradation and wastewater treatment performance of the bioaugmented system. In essence, the aged sludge bioaugmentation is a viable and eco-friendly solution to improving the treatment efficiency of the biological activated sludge system, despite limited biodegradation efficiency in an elevated compounds-concentration environment.

Effect of clonal integration on nitrogen cycling in rhizosphere of rhizomatous clonal plant, Phyllostachys bissetii, under heterogeneous light

Clonal integration plays an important role in clonal plant adapting to heterogeneous habitats. It was postulated that clonal integration could exhibit positive effects on nitrogen cycling in the rhizosphere of clonal plant subjected to heterogeneous light conditions. An in-situ experiment was conducted using clonal fragments of Phyllostachys bissetii with two successive ramets. Shading treatments were applied to offspring or mother ramets, respectively, whereas counterparts were treated to full sunlight. Rhizomes between two successive ramets were either severed or connected. Extracellular enzyme activities and nitrogen turnover were measured, as well as soil properties. Abundance of functional genes (archaeal or bacterial amoA, nifH) in the rhizosphere of shaded, offspring or mother ramets were determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Carbon or nitrogen availabilities were significantly influenced by clonal integration in the rhizosphere of shaded ramets. Clonal integration significantly increased extracellular enzyme activities and abundance of functional genes in the rhizosphere of shaded ramets. When rhizomes were connected, higher nitrogen turnover (nitrogen mineralization or nitrification rates) was exhibited in the rhizosphere of shaded offspring ramets. However, nitrogen turnover was significantly decreased by clonal integration in the rhizosphere of shaded mother ramets. Path analysis indicated that nitrogen turnover in the rhizosphere of shaded, offspring or mother ramets were primarily driven by the response of soil microorganisms to dissolved organic carbon or nitrogen. This unique in-situ experiment provided insights into the mechanism of nutrient recycling mediated by clonal integration. It was suggested that effects of clonal integration on the rhizosphere microbial processes were dependent on direction of photosynthates transport in clonal plant subjected to heterogeneous light conditions.

Individual and combined effects of enrofloxacin and cadmium on soil microbial biomass and the ammonia-oxidizing functional gene

The negative effects of residues from antibiotics and heavy metals in agricultural soils are becoming an increasingly frequent concern. To evaluate the toxicity and interaction of antibiotics and heavy metals, enrofloxacin (ENR) and cadmium (Cd) were used as targets to study the individual effects of ENR (0.025, 0.1, 0.4mmol/kg) and Cd (0.4mmol/kg) and their combined effects (mole ratios of ENR to Cd of 1: 1, 1: 4 and 1: 16) on soil microbial biomass and function on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 of the study. The results demonstrated that microbial populations, which were counted during 4 sampling periods, were mainly in the order of bacteria>actinomycetes>fungi. The ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene copies of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were more abundant than ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) on days 14 and 21. Soil bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes numbers and amoA gene abundances of AOB and AOA in soils were inhibited to varying degrees by the single and combined effects of ENR and Cd; the higher the concentration of the treatments, the stronger the inhibition. The combined toxicity of ENR and Cd on soil microbes and AOA- and AOB-amoA genes was stronger than when either chemical was used alone; the interaction effects of ENR and Cd were mainly antagonistic. Moreover, the ratios of bacteria/fungi declined significantly on days 14, 21 and 28; the proportions of AOA- and AOB-amoA were altered with the addition of ENR and Cd. Thus, ENR and Cd had significant negative effects on the soil microbial community, especially when both contaminants were present.

Abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in activated sludge from different geographic regions in China

Detailed ecological information on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in activated sludge of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is very important to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment. In this study, activated sludge samples were collected from seven municipal WWTPs located in seven cities in China, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), as well as construction of clone libraries combined with correlation-based data analysis was performed. Further, the effect of geographic distribution and some water quality parameters on the ecological distribution of AOB in activated sludge from WWTPs were investigated. The geographic distribution, the influent concentration of total nitrogen (TN) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) had significant effects on the abundance of AOB (P < 0.05). However, the community structure of AOB were not significantly affected by geographic distribution, but by water quality parameters including the concentrations of TN and NH₄⁺-N. N. oligotropha lineage was the dominant AOB group in the wastewater treatment systems. The results obtained in this study provide useful information to understand some aspects of the ecological information and influencing factors of AOB in geographically distributed WWTPs.

Contribution of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to ammonia oxidation in two nitrifying reactors

In this study, two laboratory nitrifying reactors (NRI and NRII), which were seeded by sludge from different sources and operated under different operating conditions, were found to possess distinct dominant ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms. Ammonia-oxidizing archaeal (AOA) amoA genes outnumbered ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB) amoA genes in reactor NRI, while only AOB amoA genes were detectable in reactor NRII. The AOA amoA gene sequences retrieved from NRI were characterized within the Nitrososphaera sister cluster of the group 1.1b Thaumarchaeota. Two inhibitors for ammonia oxidation, allylthiourea (ATU) and 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO), were applied individually and as a mixture to observe the ammonia-oxidizing activity of both microorganisms in the reactors' sludge. The results indicated that AOA and AOB jointly oxidized ammonia in NRI, while AOB played the main role in ammonia oxidation in NRII. DNA-stable isotope probing with labeled ¹³C-HCO₃^- was performed on NRI sludge. Incorporation of ¹³C into AOA and AOB implied that both microorganisms may perform autotrophy during ammonia oxidation. Taken together, the results from this study provide direct evidence demonstrating the contribution of AOA and AOB to ammonia oxidation in the nitrifying reactors.

Physiological and Metagenomic Characterizations of the Synergistic Relationships between Ammonia- and Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria in Freshwater Nitrification

Nitrification plays a crucial role in global nitrogen cycling and treatment processes. However, the relationships between the nitrifier guilds of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) are still poorly understood, especially in freshwater habitats. This study examined the physiological interactions between the AOB and NOB present in a freshwater aquarium biofilter by culturing them, either together or separately, in a synthetic medium. Metagenomic and 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed the presence and the draft genomes of Nitrosomonas-like AOB as well as Nitrobacter-like NOB in the cultures, including the first draft genome of Nitrobacter vulgaris. The nitrifiers exhibited different growth rates with different ammonium (NH₄⁺) or nitrite concentrations (50-1,500 μM) and the growth rates were elevated under a high bicarbonate (HCO₃^-) concentration. The half-saturation constant (K_s for NH₄⁺), the maximum growth rate (μ_max), and the lag duration indicated a strong dependence on the synergistic relationships between the two guilds. Overall, the ecophysiological and metagenomic results in this study provided insights into the phylogeny of the key nitrifying players in a freshwater biofilter and showed that interactions between the two nitrifying guilds in a microbial community enhanced nitrification.

Microbial ecology of full-scale wastewater treatment systems in the Polar Arctic Circle: Archaea, Bacteria and Fungi

Seven full-scale biological wastewater treatment systems located in the Polar Arctic Circle region in Finland were investigated to determine their Archaea, Bacteria and Fungi community structure, and their relationship with the operational conditions of the bioreactors by the means of quantitative PCR, massive parallel sequencing and multivariate redundancy analysis. The results showed dominance of Archaea and Bacteria members in the bioreactors. The activated sludge systems showed strong selection of Bacteria but not for Archaea and Fungi, as suggested by diversity analyses. Core OTUs in influent and bioreactors were classified as Methanobrevibacter, Methanosarcina, Terrestrial Group Thaumarchaeota and unclassified Euryarchaeota member for Archaea; Trichococcus, Leptotrichiaceae and Comamonadaceae family, and Methylorosula for Bacteria and Trichosporonaceae family for Fungi. All influents shared core OTUs in all domains, but in bioreactors this did not occur for Bacteria. Oligotype structure of core OTUs showed several ubiquitous Fungi oligotypes as dominant in sewage and bioreactors. Multivariate redundancy analyses showed that the majority of core OTUs were related to organic matter and nutrients removal. Also, there was evidence of competition among Archaea and Fungi core OTUs, while all Bacteria OTUs were positively correlated among them. The results obtained highlighted interesting features of extremely cold temperature bioreactors.

Correlating microbial community structure with operational conditions in biological aerated filter reactor for efficient nitrogen removal of municipal wastewater

In this study, the combination of strengthen circulation anaerobic (SCA) and biological aerated filter (BAF) reactor was employed to treat municipal wastewater. Different reflux percentages or gas/water ratios were selected for evaluating the removal performance of contaminants in SCA-BAF system and sequential nitrification and denitrification process in BAF reactor. In general, reflux percentage (200%) and gas/water ratio (3:1) were a relatively suitable operational condition for BAF reactor. The COD, NH₃-N, TN concentrations of effluents collected from BAF reactor varied in the ranges of 18-80, 0.2-7.2, 9.1-33.0 mg L^-1, respectively. A higher NO₃-N concentration in effluents of BAF reactor resulted from the lack of organic carbon resource in wastewater. High throughput sequencing analysis indicated that different nitrification and denitrification bacteria thrived in the BAF reactor. The DO, NO₂-N and NO₃-N concentrations showed a strong correlation with Nitrospira and Nitrosomonas in bacterial samples outlet (c and e) under gas/water ratio of 3:1.

Enrichment and application of nitrifying activated sludge in membrane bioreactors

In this study, nitrifying bacteria were enriched in a membrane bioreactor (MBR, R1) and their bioaugmentation effectiveness was evaluated in another two MBRs (R2 and R3). Nitrifying activated sludge (NAS) with high nitrification activity of up to 3,000 mg-N/(L·d)^-1 was successfully enriched in R1. The results showed that chemical oxygen demand concentration of 100-200 mg/L had no negative effect on NAS enrichment but reduced the ratio of bacterial nitrifiers. Moreover, the cell concentration of nitrifying bacteria in NAS, which was 3.1 × 10¹¹ cells/L, was similar to that of the commercial bacterium agent. For the bioaugmentation test, the reactor inoculated with 14% NAS achieved a 23% higher NH₄⁺-N removal efficiency than that of the uninoculated reactor. Along with the improvement of nitrification performance, the bacterial nitrifiers abundance and microbial richness remarkably increased after bioaugmentation. These results suggested that the MBR system could efficiently enrich nitrifying bacteria using organic carbon containing culture medium, and potentially act as a side-stream reactor to enhance the nitrification function of the wastewater treatment plant.

Seasonal variation and ex-situ nitrification activity of ammonia oxidizing archaea in biofilm based wastewater treatment processes

The abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was investigated in full-scale two-stage trickling filters (TF) and moving bed bioreactor (MBBR) treating municipal wastewater. Biofilm samples were collected for 17months from nitrifying TF (NTF), biochemical oxygen demand TF (BTF), and MBBR media. The abundance of AOA and AOB was determined using a quantitative PCR approach targeting the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A gene of archaea and bacteria. AOA were dominant in the NTF and MBBR, while AOB dominated in the BTF. AOA and AOB were more abundant during warmer months, and AOA were detected in the BTF only during warmer months. In laboratory nitrification activity experiments, ammonia oxidation to nitrite decreased when AOA populations from the NTF and MBBR were inhibited, demonstrating that AOA contributed to nitrification. This study has shown that AOA outnumber AOB and contribute to ammonia oxidation in full-scale nitrifying biofilm processes.

Toxic compounds biodegradation and toxicity of high strength wastewater treated under elevated nitrogen concentration in the activated sludge and membrane bioreactor systems

This research has assessed the removal efficiencies of toxic compounds in the high strength wastewater (the leachate and agriculture wastewater mixture) using the activated sludge (AS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies under two carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios (C/N 14 and 6) and two toxic compounds concentrations (8-396μg/L and 1000μg/L). In addition, the toxicity evaluations of the AS and MBR effluents to the aquatic environment were undertaken at five effluent dilution ratios (10, 20, 30, 50 and 70% v/v). The findings indicate that the AS treatment performance could be enhanced by the elevation of the nitrogen concentration. Specifically, the C/N 6 environment helps promote the bacterial growth, particularly heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria (HNB) and nitrifying bacteria (NB), which produce the enzymes crucial to the toxic compounds degradation. The improved biodegradation makes the effluents less toxic to the aquatic environment, as evidenced by the lower mortality rates of both experimental fish species raised in the nitrogen-elevated diluted AS effluents. On the other hand, the elevated nitrogen concentration minimally enhances the MBR treatment performance, given the fact that the MBR technology is in itself a biological treatment scheme with very high compounds removal capability. Despite its lower toxic compounds removal efficiency, the AS technology is simple, inexpensive and operationally-friendly, rendering the system more applicable to the treatment operation constrained by the financial, manpower and technological considerations.

Elucidation of microbial nitrogen-transformation mechanisms in activated sludge by comprehensive evaluation of nitrogen-transformation activity

Using prepared nitrifying sludge, anaerobic ammonia oxidization (anammox) sludge and two heterotrophic ammonia oxidization bacterial (AOB) species as inocula, this study elucidated the effect of oxygen conditions, assay media, and selective metabolic inhibitors on various microbial nitrogen (N)-transformation activities including aerobic chemolithotrophic ammonia and nitrite oxidization, aerobic heterotrophic ammonia oxidization, anammox, and aerobic and anoxic denitrification. The oxygen conditions and assay media effectively differentiated among almost all ammonia removal pathways except for separating aerobic chemolithotrophic ammonia oxidization from aerobic heterotrophic ammonia oxidization. A final allylthiourea concentration of 10mg·L^-1 was optimal for accurate determination of aerobic heterotrophic ammonia oxidization activity in the presence of aerobic chemolithotrophic AOB. Finally, this study developed a simple and reliable method to individually determine and compare the comprehensive N-transformation activity characteristics of several activated sludge samples from different origins, and to elucidate the major microbial N-transformation mechanisms for ammonia removal and N₂ production.

A review: Driving factors and regulation strategies of microbial community structure and dynamics in wastewater treatment systems

The performance and stabilization of biological wastewater treatment systems ¹are closely related to the microbial community structure and dynamics. In this paper, the effects and mechanisms of influent composition, process configuration, operating parameters (dissolved oxygen [DO], pH, hydraulic retention time [HRT] and sludge retention time [SRT]) and environmental condition (temperature) to the change of microbial community structure and process performance (nitrification, denitrification, biological phosphorus removal, organics mineralization and utilization, etc.) are critically reviewed. Furthermore, some strategies for microbial community structure regulation, mainly bioaugmentation, process adjustment and operating parameters optimization, applied in the current wastewater treatment systems are also discussed. Although the recent studies have strengthened our understanding on the relationship between microbial community structure and wastewater treatment process performance, how to fully tap the microbial information, optimize the microbial community structure and maintain the process performance in wastewater treatment systems are still full of challenges.

Cultivation and characterization of Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus exaquare, an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from a municipal wastewater treatment system

Thaumarchaeota have been detected in several industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), despite the fact that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are thought to be adapted to low ammonia environments. However, the activity, physiology and metabolism of WWTP-associated AOA remain poorly understood. We report the cultivation and complete genome sequence of Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus exaquare, a novel AOA representative from a municipal WWTP in Guelph, Ontario (Canada). In enrichment culture, Ca. N. exaquare oxidizes ammonia to nitrite stoichiometrically, is mesophilic, and tolerates at least 15 mm of ammonium chloride or sodium nitrite. Microautoradiography (MAR) for enrichment cultures demonstrates that Ca. N. exaquare assimilates bicarbonate in association with ammonia oxidation. However, despite using inorganic carbon, the ammonia-oxidizing activity of Ca. N. exaquare is greatly stimulated in enrichment culture by the addition of organic compounds, especially malate and succinate. Ca. N. exaquare cells are coccoid with a diameter of ~1–2 μm. Phylogenetically, Ca. N. exaquare belongs to the Nitrososphaera sister cluster within the Group I.1b Thaumarchaeota, a lineage which includes most other reported AOA sequences from municipal and industrial WWTPs. The 2.99 Mbp genome of Ca. N. exaquare encodes pathways for ammonia oxidation, bicarbonate fixation, and urea transport and breakdown. In addition, this genome encodes several key genes for dealing with oxidative stress, including peroxidase and catalase. Incubations of WWTP biofilm demonstrate partial inhibition of ammonia-oxidizing activity by 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO), suggesting that Ca. N. exaquare-like AOA may contribute to nitrification in situ. However, CARD-FISH-MAR showed no incorporation of bicarbonate by detected Thaumarchaeaota, suggesting that detected AOA may incorporate non-bicarbonate carbon sources or rely on an alternative and yet unknown metabolism.

Effects of hydraulic retention time and carbon to nitrogen ratio on micro-pollutant biodegradation in membrane bioreactor for leachate treatment

This research investigated the biodegradation of the micro-pollutants in leachate by the membrane bioreactor (MBR) system under six treatment conditions, comprising two C/N ratios (6, 10) and three hydraulic retention time (HRT) durations (6, 12, 24h). The experimental results indicated that the C/N 6 environment was more advantageous to the bacterial growth. The bacterial communities residing in the sludge were those of heterotrophic bacteria (HB), heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria (HNB) and ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). It was found that HB and HNB produced phenol hydroxylase (PH), esterase (EST), phthalate dioxygenase (PDO) and laccase (LAC) and also enhanced the biodegradation rate constants (k) in the system. At the same time, AOB promoted the production of HB and HNB. The findings also revealed that the 12h HRT was the optimal condition with regard to the highest growth of the bacteria responsible for the biodegradation of phenols and phthalates. Meanwhile, the longer HRT duration (i.e. 24h) was required to effectively bio-degrade carbamazepine (CBZ), N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) and diclofenac (DCF).

Archaea in Natural and Impacted Brazilian Environments

In recent years, archaeal diversity surveys have received increasing attention. Brazil is a country known for its natural diversity and variety of biomes, which makes it an interesting sampling site for such studies. However, archaeal communities in natural and impacted Brazilian environments have only recently been investigated. In this review, based on a search on the PubMed database on the last week of April 2016, we present and discuss the results obtained in the 51 studies retrieved, focusing on archaeal communities in water, sediments, and soils of different Brazilian environments. We concluded that, in spite of its vast territory and biomes, the number of publications focusing on archaeal detection and/or characterization in Brazil is still incipient, indicating that these environments still represent a great potential to be explored.

Altitude-scale variation in nitrogen-removal bacterial communities from municipal wastewater treatment plants distributed along a 3600-m altitudinal gradient in China

Microbial ecological information on the nitrogen removal processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been of considerable importance as a means for diagnosing the poor performance of nitrogen removal. In this study, the altitude-scale variations in the quantitative relationships and community structures of betaproteobacteria ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (βAOB) and nitrite-reducing bacteria containing the copper-containing nitrite reductase gene (nirK-NRB) and the cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase gene (nirS-NRB) were investigated in 18 municipal WWTPs distributed along a 3660-masl altitude gradient in China. An altitude threshold associated with the proportions of NRB to total bacteria, NRB to βAOB and nirK-NRB to nirS-NRB was detected at approximately 1500m above sea level (masl). Compared with the stable proportions below 1500masl, the proportions exhibited a pronounced decreasing trend with increased altitude above 1500masl. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the trend was significantly driven by altitude as well as multiple wastewater and operational variables. The community structure dissimilarity of βAOB, nirK-NRB and nirS-NRB showed significant and positive correlations with altitudinal distance between WWTPs. Redundancy analyses indicated that the variation in community structures above 1500masl were predominantly associated with wastewater, followed by operation and altitude. In summary, although the variations of nitrogen-removal bacterial community in WWTPs were driven dominantly by wastewater and operational variables, altitude was also an important variable influencing the quantitative relationships and community structures of nitrogen-removal bacteria in WWTPs particularly above 1500masl.

Effect of hydraulic retention time and sludge recirculation on greenhouse gas emission and related microbial communities in two-stage membrane bioreactor treating solid waste leachate

Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and responsible microorganisms during the treatment of municipal solid waste leachate in two-stage membrane bioreactor (MBR) was investigated. The MBR system, consisting of anaerobic and aerobic stages, were operated at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5 and 2.5days in each reactor under the presence and absence of sludge recirculation. Organic and nitrogen removals were more than 80% under all operating conditions during which CH4 emission were found highest under no sludge recirculation condition at HRT of 5days. An increase in hydraulic loading resulted in a reduction in CH4 emission from anaerobic reactor but an increase from the aerobic reactor. N2O emission rates were found relatively constant from anaerobic and aerobic reactors under different operating conditions. Diversity of CH4 and N2O producing microorganisms were found decreasing when hydraulic loading rate to the reactors was increased.

Temporal and spatial changes of microbial community in an industrial effluent receiving area in Hangzhou Bay

Anthropogenic activities usually contaminate water environments, and have led to the eutrophication of many estuaries and shifts in microbial communities. In this study, the temporal and spatial changes of the microbial community in an industrial effluent receiving area in Hangzhou Bay were investigated by 454 pyrosequencing. The bacterial community showed higher richness and biodiversity than the archaeal community in all sediments. Proteobacteria dominated in the bacterial communities of all the samples; Marine_Group_I and Methanomicrobia were the two dominant archaeal classes in the effluent receiving area. PCoA and AMOVA revealed strong seasonal but minor spatial changes in both bacterial and archaeal communities in the sediments. The seasonal changes of the bacterial community were less significant than those of the archaeal community, which mainly consisted of fluctuations in abundance of a large proportion of longstanding species rather than the appearance and disappearance of major archaeal species. Temperature was found to positively correlate with the dominant bacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and negatively correlate with the dominant archaea, Marine_Group_I; and might be the primary driving force for the seasonal variation of the microbial community.

Bacterial communities in full-scale wastewater treatment systems

Bacterial metabolism determines the effectiveness of biological treatment of wastewater. Therefore, it is important to define the relations between the species structure and the performance of full-scale installations. Although there is much laboratory data on microbial consortia, our understanding of dependencies between the microbial structure and operational parameters of full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is limited. This mini-review presents the types of microbial consortia in WWTP. Information is given on extracellular polymeric substances production as factor that is key for formation of spatial structures of microorganisms. Additionally, we discuss data on microbial groups including nitrifiers, denitrifiers, Anammox bacteria, and phosphate- and glycogen-accumulating bacteria in full-scale aerobic systems that was obtained with the use of molecular techniques, including high-throughput sequencing, to shed light on dependencies between the microbial ecology of biomass and the overall efficiency and functional stability of wastewater treatment systems. Sludge bulking in WWTPs is addressed, as well as the microbial composition of consortia involved in antibiotic and micropollutant removal.

Population and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in a pollutants' receiving area in Hangzhou Bay

The community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms is sensitive to various environmental factors, including pollutions. In this study, real-time PCR and 454 pyrosequencing were adopted to investigate the population and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) temporally and spatially in the sediments of an industrial effluent receiving area in the Qiantang River's estuary, Hangzhou Bay. The abundances of AOA and AOB amoA genes fluctuated in 10(5)-10(7) gene copies per gram of sediment; the ratio of AOA amoA/AOB amoA ranged in 0.39-5.52. The AOA amoA/archaeal 16S rRNA, AOB amoA/bacterial 16S rRNA, and AOA amoA/AOB amoA were found to positively correlate with NH4 (+)-N concentration of the seawater. Nitrosopumilus cluster and Nitrosomonas-like cluster were the dominant AOA and AOB, respectively. The community structures of both AOA and AOB in the sediments exhibited significant seasonal differences rather than spatial changes in the effluent receiving area. The phylogenetic distribution of AOB in this area was consistent with the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging the effluent but differed from the Qiantang River and other estuaries, which might be an outcome of long-term effluent discharge.

Nitric oxide scavengers differentially inhibit ammonia oxidation in ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria

Differential inhibitors are important for measuring the relative contributions of microbial groups, such as ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), to biogeochemical processes in environmental samples. In particular, 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO) represents a nitric oxide scavenger used for the specific inhibition of AOA, implicating nitric oxide as an intermediate of thaumarchaeotal ammonia oxidation. This study investigated four alternative nitric oxide scavengers for their ability to differentially inhibit AOA and AOB in comparison to PTIO. Caffeic acid, curcumin, methylene blue hydrate and trolox were tested onNitrosopumilus maritimus, two unpublished AOA representatives (AOA-6f and AOA-G6) as well as the AOB representative Nitrosomonas europaea All four scavengers inhibited ammonia oxidation by AOA at lower concentrations than for AOB. In particular, differential inhibition of AOA and AOB by caffeic acid (100 μM) and methylene blue hydrate (3 μM) was comparable to carboxy-PTIO (100 μM) in pure and enrichment culture incubations. However, when added to aquarium sponge biofilm microcosms, both scavengers were unable to inhibit ammonia oxidation consistently, likely due to degradation of the inhibitors themselves. This study provides evidence that a variety of nitric oxide scavengers result in differential inhibition of ammonia oxidation in AOA and AOB, and provides support to the proposed role of nitric oxide as a key intermediate in the thaumarchaeotal ammonia oxidation pathway.

Physiological and transcriptional responses of nitrifying bacteria exposed to copper in activated sludge

Cu inhibition of gene transcription in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were rarely studied simultaneously in activated sludge. In this study, the transcription of amoA (for AOB) and nxrB (for NOB), nitrification efficiencies, AOB and NOB respiratory rates, and Cu distribution were simultaneously investigated. Modeling the relationships among the aforementioned parameters revealed that in complex activated sludge systems, nitrification efficiency was an insensitive parameter for showing Cu inhibition. Respiration activities and gene transcription were sensitive to Cu and positively correlated with each other. The transcription of amoA and nxrB genes indicated that the Cu had different inhibitory effects on AOB and NOB. AOB were more susceptible to Cu toxicity than NOB. Moreover, the degree of Cu inhibition on ammonia oxidation was greater than on nitrite oxidation. The analysis and related modeling results indicate that the inhibitory actions of Cu on nitrifying bacteria could mainly be attributed to intracellular Cu. The findings from this study provide insight into the mechanism of Cu inhibition on nitrification in complex activated sludge systems.

Role of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in micropollutant removal from wastewater with aerobic granular sludge

Nitrifying wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are more efficient than non-nitrifying WWTPs to remove several micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides. This may be related to the activity of nitrifying organisms, such as ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOBs), which could possibly co-metabolically oxidize micropollutants with their ammonia monooxygenase (AMO). The role of AOBs in micropollutant removal was investigated with aerobic granular sludge (AGS), a promising technology for municipal WWTPs. Two identical laboratory-scale AGS sequencing batch reactors (AGS-SBRs) were operated with or without nitrification (inhibition of AMOs) to assess their potential for micropollutant removal. Of the 36 micropollutants studied at 1 μg l(-1) in synthetic wastewater, nine were over 80% removed, but 17 were eliminated by less than 20%. Five substances (bisphenol A, naproxen, irgarol, terbutryn and iohexol) were removed better in the reactor with nitrification, probably due to co-oxidation catalysed by AMOs. However, for the removal of all other micropollutants, AOBs did not seem to play a significant role. Many compounds were better removed in aerobic condition, suggesting that aerobic heterotrophic organisms were involved in the degradation. As the AGS-SBRs did not favour the growth of such organisms, their potential for micropollutant removal appeared to be lower than that of conventional nitrifying WWTPs.

Shifts in the pelagic ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities along the eutrophic estuary of Yong River in Ningbo City, China

Aerobic ammonia oxidation plays a key role in the nitrogen cycle, and the diversity of the responsible microorganisms is regulated by environmental factors. Abundance and composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were investigated in the surface waters along an environmental gradient of the Yong River in Ningbo, East China. Water samples were collected from three pelagic zones: (1) freshwaters in the urban canals of Ningbo, (2) brackish waters in the downstream Yong River, and (3) coastal marine water of Hangzhou Bay. Shifts in activity and diversity of the ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms occurred simultaneously with changes in environmental factors, among which salinity and the availabilities of ammonium and oxygen. The AOA abundance was always higher than that of AOB and was related to the ammonia oxidation activity. The ratios of AOA/AOB in the brackish and marine waters were significantly higher than those found in freshwaters. Both AOA and AOB showed similar community compositions in brackish and marine waters, but only 31 and 35% similarity, respectively, between these waters and the urban inland freshwaters. Most of AOA-amoA sequences from freshwater were affiliated with sequences obtained from terrestrial environments and those collected from brackish and coastal areas were ubiquitous in marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems. All AOB from freshwaters belonged to Nitrosomonas, and the AOB from brackish and marine waters mainly belonged to Nitrosospira.

High Concentrations of the Antibiotic Spiramycin in Wastewater Lead to High Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea in Nitrifying Populations

To evaluate the potential effects of antibiotics on ammonia-oxidizing microbes, multiple tools including quantitative PCR (qPCR), 454-pyrosequencing, and a high-throughput functional gene array (GeoChip) were used to reveal the distribution of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and archaeal amoA (Arch-amoA) genes in three wastewater treatment systems receiving spiramycin or oxytetracycline production wastewaters. The qPCR results revealed that the copy number ratios of Arch-amoA to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) amoA genes were the highest in the spiramycin full-scale (5.30) and pilot-scale systems (1.49 × 10(-1)), followed by the oxytetracycline system (4.90 × 10(-4)), with no Arch-amoA genes detected in the control systems treating sewage or inosine production wastewater. The pyrosequencing result showed that the relative abundance of AOA affiliated with Thaumarchaeota accounted for 78.5-99.6% of total archaea in the two spiramycin systems, which was in accordance with the qPCR results. Mantel test based on GeoChip data showed that Arch-amoA gene signal intensity correlated with the presence of spiramycin (P < 0.05). Antibiotics explained 25.8% of variations in amoA functional gene structures by variance partitioning analysis. This study revealed the selection of AOA in the presence of high concentrations of spiramycin in activated sludge systems.

Removal of triclosan in nitrifying activated sludge: effects of ammonia amendment and bioaugmentation

This study investigated two possible strategies, increasing ammonia oxidation activity and bioaugmenting with triclosan-degrader Sphingopyxis strain KCY1, to enhance triclosan removal in nitrifying activated sludge (NAS). Triclosan (2 mg L(-1)) was removed within 96-h in NAS bioreactors amended with 5, 25 and 75 mg L(-1) of ammonium (NH4-N). The fastest triclosan removal was observed in 25 mg NH4-NL(-1) amended-bioreactors where high ammonia oxidation occurred. Inhibition of ammonia oxidation and slower triclosan removal were observed in 75 mg NH4-NL(-1) amended-bioreactors. Triclosan removal was correlated to the molar ratio of the amount of nitrate produced to the amount of ammonium removed. Bioaugmentation with strain KCY1 did not enhance triclosan removal in the bioreactors with active ammonia oxidation. Approximately 36-42% and 59% of triclosan added were removed within 24-h by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and unknown triclosan-degrading heterotrophs, respectively. The results suggested that increasing ammonia oxidation activity can be an effective strategy to enhance triclosan removal in NAS.

Soil infiltration bioreactor incorporated with pyrite-based (mixotrophic) denitrification for domestic wastewater treatment

In this study, an integrated two-stage soil infiltration bioreactor incorporated with pyrite-based (mixotrophic) denitrification (SIBPD) was designed for domestic wastewater treatment. Benefited from excellent adsorption ability and water-permeability, soil infiltration could avoid clogging, shorten operating time and lower maintenance cost. Respiration and nitrification were mostly engaged in aerobic stage (AES), while nitrate was majorly removed by pyrite-based mixotrophic denitrification mainly occurred in anaerobic stage (ANS). Fed with synthetic and real wastewater for 120days at 1.5h HRT, SIBPD demonstrated good removal performance showing 87.14% for COD, 92.84% for NH4(+)-N and 82.58% for TP along with 80.72% of nitrate removed by ANS. TN removal efficiency was 83.74% when conducting real wastewater. Compared with sulfur-based process, the effluent pH of SIBPD was maintained at 6.99-7.34 and the highest SO4(2-) concentration was only 64.63mgL(-1). This study revealed a promising and feasible application prospect for on-site domestic wastewater treatment.

Identification and quantification of bacteria and archaea responsible for ammonia oxidation in different activated sludge of full-scale wastewater treatment plants

In this study, the abundance and sequences of the amoA gene in ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) were defined in three wastewater treatment plants using activated sludge with biological nitrogen removal in different countries: Thailand, United States of America (USA), and Japan. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR coupled with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis were used to find the comparative abundance and identity of AOB and AOA. The conditions at the Phuket WWTP in Thailand promoted the dominance of AOA amoA genes over AOB amoA genes, while conditions at the WWTPs in Japan and USA promoted growth of AOB. Three parameters that may have contributed to the AOA dominance in Phuket were longer SRT, higher temperature, and higher pH. The Phuket WWTP is a unique system that can be used to better understand the conditions that promote AOA growth and dominance over AOB. In addition, analysis of operational data in conjunction with AOA and AOB community structure from the Phuket WWTP may elucidate advantages of AOA in meeting stricter treatment standards.

Start-up of low-temperature anammox in UASB from mesophilic yeast factory anaerobic tank inoculum

Robust start-up of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process from non-anammox-specific seeding material was achieved by using an inoculation with sludge-treating industrial [Formula: see text]-, organics- and N-rich yeast factory wastewater. N-rich reject water was treated at 20°C, which is significantly lower than optimum treatment temperature. Increasing the frequency of biomass fluidization (from 1-2 times per day to 4-5 times per day) through feeding the reactor with higher flow rate resulted in an improved total nitrogen removal rate (from 100 to 500 g m(-3)d(-1)) and increased anammox bacteria activity. As a result of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, uncultured planctomycetes clone 07260064(4)-2-M13-_A01 (GenBank: JX852965) was identified from the biomass taken from the reactor. The presence of anammox bacteria after cultivation in the reactor was confirmed by quantitative PCR (qPCR); an increase in quantity up to ∼2×10(6) copies g VSS(-1) during operation could be seen in qPCR. Statistical modelling of chemical parameters revealed the roles of several optimized parameters needed for a stable process.

Abundance and diversity of bacterial nitrifiers and denitrifiers and their functional genes in tannery wastewater treatment plants revealed by high-throughput sequencing

Biological nitrification/denitrification is frequently used to remove nitrogen from tannery wastewater containing high concentrations of ammonia. However, information is limited about the bacterial nitrifiers and denitrifiers and their functional genes in tannery wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) due to the low-throughput of the previously used methods. In this study, 454 pyrosequencing and Illumina high-throughput sequencing, combined with molecular methods, were used to comprehensively characterize structures and functions of nitrification and denitrification bacterial communities in aerobic and anaerobic sludge of two full-scale tannery WWTPs. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes showed that Proteobacteria and Synergistetes dominated in the aerobic and anaerobic sludge, respectively. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) amoA gene cloning revealed that Nitrosomonas europaea dominated the ammonia-oxidizing community in the WWTPs. Metagenomic analysis showed that the denitrifiers mainly included the genera of Thauera, Paracoccus, Hyphomicrobium, Comamonas and Azoarcus, which may greatly contribute to the nitrogen removal in the two WWTPs. It is interesting that AOB and ammonia-oxidizing archaea had low abundance although both WWTPs demonstrated high ammonium removal efficiency. Good correlation between the qPCR and metagenomic analysis is observed for the quantification of functional genes amoA, nirK, nirS and nosZ, indicating that the metagenomic approach may be a promising method used to comprehensively investigate the abundance of functional genes of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in the environment.

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea versus bacteria in two soil aquifer treatment systems

So far, the contribution of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) to ammonia oxidation in wastewater treatment processes has not been well understood. In this study, two soil aquifer treatment (SATs) systems were built up to treat synthetic domestic wastewater (column 1) and secondary effluent (column 4), accomplishing an average of 95% ammonia removal during over 550 days of operation. Except at day 322, archaeal amoA genes always outnumbered bacterial amoA genes in both SATs as determined by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR). The ratios of archaeal amoA to 16S rRNA gene averaged at 0.70 ± 0.56 and 0.82 ± 0.62 in column 1 and column 4, respectively, indicating that all the archaea could be AOA carrying amoA gene in the SATs. The results of MiSeq-pyrosequencing targeting on archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA genes with the primer pair of modified 515R/806R indicated that Nitrososphaera cluster affiliated with thaumarchaeal group I.1b was the dominant AOA species, while Nitrosospira cluster was the dominant ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The statistical analysis showed significant relationship between AOA abundance (compared to AOB abundance) and inorganic and total nitrogen concentrations. Based on the mathematical model calculation for microbial growth, AOA had much greater capacity of ammonia oxidation as compared to the specific influent ammonia loading for AOA in the SATs, implying that a small fraction of the total AOA would actively work to oxidize ammonia chemoautotrophically whereas most of AOA would exhibit some level of functional redundancy. These results all pointed that AOA involved in microbial ammonia oxidation in the SATs.

Impact of the addition of a nitrifying activated sludge on ammonia oxidation during composting of residual household wastes

AIMS

To investigate the nitrogen-microbial community dynamics during composting of a mixture of nitrifying waste activated sludge (WAS) and fine organic fraction of residual household waste (RHW). To examine whether the addition of nitrifying sludge could promote ammonia oxidation and reduce ammonia emissions.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The fine organic fraction of RHW was mixed with the WAS and homogenized. The mixture and each waste alone were loaded in aerobic cells under controlled conditions, respectively. Both nitrogen and microbial community dynamics were monitored during 50 days of composting. The ammonia oxidizers were quantified and identified in the sludge and compost. The changes in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) concentrations corresponded to the ammonia oxidation rates calculated from nitrogen balance. The addition of WAS did not efficiently reduce ammonia emissions because the Nitrosomonas oligotropha-like AOB introduced declined during the active stage of composting. Ammonia oxidation was probably limited by the intense heterotrophic activities at the active stage. Nitrosomonas europaea/eutropha and Nitrosomonas nitrosa-like AOB were established only during the maturation stage. They were the main contributors to ammonia oxidation during composting.

CONCLUSIONS

The mixing of nitrifying WAS with the RHW during the early stages of composting does not promote ammonia oxidation nor reduce ammonia emissions because of limiting biologic factors during the active stage of composting.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The mixing of activated sludge with RHW before composting is a common practice on composting plants. This study proved the limitation of this practice to reduce ammonia emissions during composting via bioaugmentation of ammonia-oxidizing organisms. It correlated successfully the ammonia oxidation rate with different groups of ammonia oxidizers and explains the fail of promoting ammonia oxidation during the early stages of composting. It suggests Nit. europaea/eutropha and Nit. nitrosa-like AOB were the main contributors to ammonia oxidation during composting.

Detection of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in fish processing effluent treatment plants

Ammonia oxidation is the rate limiting step in nitrification and thus have an important role in removal of ammonia in natural and engineered systems with participation of both ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). However, their relative distribution and activity in fish processing effluent treatment plants (FPETPs) though significant, is hitherto unreported. Presence of AOA in sludge samples obtained from FPETPs was studied by amplification and sequencing of thaumarchaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (AOA-amoA) gene. Different primer sets targeting 16S rRNA and AOA-amoA gene were used for the detection of AOA in FPETPs. Phylogenetic analysis of the gene revealed that the AOA was affiliated with thaumarchaeal group 1.1a lineage (marine cluster). Quantitative real time PCR of amoA gene was used to study the copy number of AOA and AOB in FPETPs. The AOA-amoA and AOB-amoA gene copy numbers of sludge samples ranged from 2.2 × 10(6) to 4.2 × 10(8) and 1.1 × 10(7) to 8.5 × 10(8) mg(-1) sludge respectively. Primer sets Arch-amoAF/Arch-amoAR and 340F/1000R were found to be useful for the sensitive detection of AOA-amoA and Archaeal 16S rRNA genes respectively in FPETPs. Their presence suggests the widespread occurrence and possible usefulness in removing ammonia from FPETPs which is in line with reports from other waste water treatment plants.

Differential sensitivity of nitrifying bacteria to silver nanoparticles in activated sludge

Nitrification is known as one of the most sensitive processes affected when activated sludge is exposed to antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The impact of AgNPs and their released silver ions (Ag(+) ) on the abundance, activity, and diversity of different nitrifying bacteria in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), however, is poorly understood. The present study investigated the impacts of 2 sizes of AgNPs (5 nm and 35 nm) and Ag(+) ions on the nitrifier community in activated sludge, including both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were more sensitive to AgNPs than the NOB; a 5-d and 7-d exposure of activated sludge to 35 nm AgNPs (40 ppm) significantly reduced AOB abundance to 24% and 19%, respectively. This finding was confirmed further by a decrease in activated sludge ammonia oxidation activity measured by (14) C-labeled bicarbonate uptake. In contrast, neither AgNPs (up to 40 ppm) nor Ag(+) (1 ppm) affected the abundance of NOB. Both 5 nm and 35 nm AgNPs decreased the diversity of AOB, as indicated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis with ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) primers, although some unknown Nitrosomonas species were relatively resistant to AgNPs. The generally greater resistance of NOB than AOB to AgNPs suggests that the accumulation of bacteriostatic nitrite in WWTPs is unlikely to be exacerbated due to the accidental or incidental release of AgNPs.

Microbial community composition of a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor combined with an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for the treatment of municipal sewage

The microbial community composition of a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)-DHS system used for the treatment of municipal sewage was investigated. The clone libraries showed marked differences in microbial community composition at different reactor heights and in different seasons. The dominant phylotypes residing in the upper part of the reactor were likely responsible for removing organic matters because a significant reduction in organic matter in the upper part was observed. Quantification of the amoA genes revealed that the proportions of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) varied along the vertical length of the reactor, with more AOB colonizing the middle and lower parts of the reactor than the top of the reactor. The findings indicated that sewage treatment was achieved by a separation of microbial habitats responsible for organic matter removal and nitrification in the DHS reactor.