Spatiotemporal distribution and interaction of denitrifying functional genes in a novel DAS-NUA biofilter used for groundwater nitrate treatment

Spatial and temporal dynamic response of abundant and rare aerobic denitrifying bacteria to dissolved organic matter in natural water: A case study of Lake Baiyangdian, China

Revealing the responses of abundant and rare aerobic denitrifying bacteria to dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition is essential for understanding the aquatic N cycle ecosystems. In this study, fluorescence region integration and high-throughput sequencing techniques were used to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics and dynamic response of DOM and aerobic denitrifying bacteria. The DOM compositions were significantly different among the four seasons (P < 0.001) without spatial differences. Tryptophan-like substances (P2, 27.89-42.67%) and microbial metabolites (P4, 14.62-42.03%) were the dominant components, and DOM exhibited strong autogenous characteristics. Abundant (AT), moderate (MT), and rare taxa (RT) of aerobic denitrifying bacteria showed significant and spatiotemporal differences (P < 0.05). The responses of α-diversity and niche breadth of AT and RT to DOM differed. The DOM explanation proportion for aerobic denitrifying bacteria exhibited spatiotemporal differences based on redundancy analysis. Foliate-like substances (P3) had the highest interpretation rate of AT in spring and summer, while humic-like substances (P5) had the highest interpretation rate of RT in spring and winter. Network analysis showed that RT networks were more complex than AT networks. Pseudomonas was the main genus associated with DOM in AT on a temporal scale, and was more strongly correlated with tyrosine-like substances (P1), P2, and P5. Aeromonas was the main genus associated with DOM in AT on a spatial scale and was more strongly correlated with P1 and P5. Magnetospirillum was the main genus associated with DOM in RT on a spatiotemporal scale, which was more sensitive to P3 and P4. Special operational taxonomic units were transformed between AT and RT with seasonal changes, but not between the two regions. To summarize, our results revealed that bacteria with different abundances utilized DOM components differently, and provides new insight on the spatiotemporal response of DOM and aerobic denitrifying bacteria in aquatic ecosystems of biogeochemical significance.

Efficient nitrate removal of immobilized mixed aerobic denitrifying bacteria and community dynamics response to temperature and low carbon/nitrogen polluted water

The denitrification performance of immobilized mixed aerobic denitrifying bacteria (IMADB) was investigated. IMADB displayed strong temperature adaptability under low Carbon/Nitrogen conditions. At 5, 15, and 25 °C, the nitrate removal efficiencies of volcanic rock and polyester fiber sponge immobilized system reached 83.95%-98.25% and 89.71%-98.14%, respectively. The nitrate content removed by the carrier accounted for 41.18%-82.47% of the nitrate content removed by the immobilized system at different temperature, and played a major role in nitrate removal. The lower the temperature, the greater the role of the carrier. At the same temperature, carrier had a relatively higher richness, diversity, and evenness. Network analysis revealed that carrier species, which were positively correlated with nitrate removal efficiency, had the largest OTUs and abundance. Meanwhile, carrier had the widest niche. The total nitrogen removal efficiency of IMADB reached 56.10%-62.31% in the natural water system, highlighting a promising application prospect.

A feasibility study of metal sulfide (FeS and MnS) on simultaneous denitrification and chromate reduction

Metal sulfide-based biological process is considered as a promising biotechnology for next-generation wastewater treatment. However, it is not clear if simultaneous bio-reduction of nitrate and chromate was achievable in this process. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of metal sulfides (FeS and MnS) on simultaneous denitrification and chromate reduction in autotrophic denitrifying column bioreactors. Results showed that simultaneous reduction of nitrate and chromate was achieved using metal sulfides (FeS and MnS) as electron donors, in which sulfate was the sole soluble end-product. Apart from the sulfur element in the metal sulfides, Fe(II) and Mn(II) were also involved in nitrate and chromate reduction as indicative by the formation of their oxidative states compounds. In microbial communities, SHD-231 and Thiobacillus were the most predominant bacteria, which might have played important roles in simultaneous denitrification and chromate reduction. Compared to FeS, MnS showed a higher performance on nitrate and chromate removal, which could also reduce the toxic inhibition of chromate on nitrate reduction. According to results of XRD and XPS, as well as a lower sulfate production in the FeS system, FeS might have been covered easily to hydroxides due to its bio-oxidation, which limited mass transfer efficiency and bio-availability of FeS. The findings in this study offered insights in the development of promising approaches for the treatment of toxic and hazardous compounds using metal sulfide.

Submerged plants alleviated the impacts of increased ammonium pollution on anammox bacteria and nirS denitrifiers in the rhizosphere

Excess nitrogen input into water bodies can cause eutrophication and affect the community structure and abundance of the nitrogen-transforming microorganisms; thus, it is essential to remove nitrogen from eutrophic water bodies. Aquatic plants can facilitate the growth of rhizosphere microorganisms. This study investigated the impact of ammonium pollution on the anammox and denitrifying bacteria in the rhizosphere of a cultivated submerged macrophyte, Potamogeton crispus (P. crispus) by adding three different concentrations of slow-release urea (0, 400, 600 mg per kg sediment) to the sediment to simulate different levels of nitrogen pollution in the lake. Results showed that the ammonium concentrations in the interstitial water under three pollution treatments were significantly different, but the nitrate concentration remained stable. The abundance of anammox 16S rRNA and nitrite reductase (nirS) gene in rhizosphere sediments exhibited no significant differences under the three pollution conditions. The increase in the nitrogen pollution levels did not significantly affect the growth of anammox bacteria and nirS denitrifying bacteria (denitrifiers). The change trend of the abundance ratio of (anammox 16S rRNA)/nirS in different nitrogen treatment groups on the same sampling date was very close, indicating that this ratio was not affected by ammonium pollution levels when P. crispus existed. The redundancy analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between the abundance of anammox 16S rRNA and nirS gene and that the abundance of these bacteria was significantly affected by the mole ratio of NH₄⁺/NO₃^-. This study reveals that submerged plants weaken the environmental changes caused by ammonia pollution in the rhizosphere, thereby avoiding strong fluctuation of anammox bacteria and nirS denitrifiers.

Enhanced Denitrification of Integrated Sewage Treatment System by Supplementing Denitrifying Carbon Source

Integrated sewage treatment system (ISTY) is a new technology for rural domestic sewage treatment. In the ISTY, the carbon source in the denitrification stage is often insufficient, affecting the denitrification efficiency. In order to improve the denitrification efficiency, several commonly available agricultural wastes, peanut shell (PS), sawdust (SD), peat (PT), and their mixtures (MT), were selected as supplementary carbon sources in the denitrification stage of ISTY to study the denitrification efficiency. Results show that PS exhibited a high carbon release capacity. PS released an enormous amount of carbon in 144 h, and the cumulative total organic carbon was 41.99 ± 0.7 mg/(g·L). The optimum carbon source dosage was 3 g/L, the nitrate removal rates of PS exceeded 95% after 48 h, and the denitrification rates were 9.35 mg/(g·L), which were 63.92% higher than that of the control group. After running the ISTY for 120 h, and with PS as supplementary carbon sources, the removal rate of TN increased from 29.76% to 83.86%. At the genus level, the dominant denitrifying bacteria in ISTY, after adding PS, were Pseudomonas and Cupriavidus, accounting for 78.68%, an increase of 72.90% compared with the control group. This evidence suggested that PS can obviously enhance the denitrification efficiency of the ISTY as a supplementary carbon source.

Total and denitrifying bacterial communities associated with the interception of nitrate leaching by carbon amendment in the subsoil

Nitrate leaching is severe in greenhouse where excessive nitrogen is often applied to maintain high crop productivities. In this study, we investigated the effects of carbon amendment in the subsoil on nitrate leaching and the emission of greenhouse gases (CH₄ and N₂O) using a soil column experiment. Carbon amendment resulted in over 39% reduction in nitrate leaching and 25.3% to 60.6% increase of total N content in the subsoil zone as compared to non-amended control. Strikingly, the abundance of nirS, nosZ, and 16S rRNA were higher in the treatment than the corresponding controls while no significant effect was detected for nirK. Carbon amendment explained 14%, 10%, and 4% of the variation in the community of nosZ, nirS, and nirK, respectively. It also considerably (more than 7 times) enriched genera such as Anaerovorax, Pseudobacteroides, Magnetospirillum, Prolixibacter, Sporobacter, Ignavibacterium, Syntrophobacter, Oxobacter, Hydrogenispora, Desulfosporomusa, Mangrovibacterium, and Sporomusa, as revealed by the analysis of 16S rRNA amplicon. Network analysis further uncovered that carbon amendment enriched three microbial hubs which mainly consists of positively correlated nirS, nosZ, and anaerobic bacterial populations. In summary, carbon amendment in the subsoil mitigated nitrate leaching and increased the nitrogen pool by possible activation of denitrifying and anaerobic bacterial populations. KEY POINTS: • Carbon amendment in subsoil reduced NO₃^- leaching by over 39% under high N input. • Carbon amendment increased the total N in subsoil from 25.3% to 60.6%. • Carbon amendment enriched nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifying bacteria in subsoil.

Influence of temperature on CODMn and Mn2+ removal and microbial community structure in pilot-scale biofilter

Test water temperature (TWT) is a significant operational parameter in biofilter. In this study, a pilot-scale biofilter was established to investigate the removal efficiency of COD_Mn and Mn²⁺ and the microbial community structure at different TWT. When COD_Mn and Mn²⁺ in the influent were 6-8 and 0.9-1.2 mg/L, respectively, the removal rates were 22.61% and 94.28% at the low TWT, while 69.42% and 97.85% at the high TWT, respectively. Biological COD_Mn and Mn²⁺ removal followed the first-order reaction, and at the low and high TWT, the k value was 0.00704 and 0.0738 and 0.0313 and 0.113 min^-1, respectively. Organic matter oxidizing bacteria (OMOB, Sphingopyxis, Sphingomonas, Amphiplicatus, Novosphingobium, Gemmatimonas, Chryseolinea and Sphingobium) and manganese oxidizing bacteria (MnOB, Hyphomicrobium, Pedomicrobium and Pseudomonas) were coexisted in 0-1.5 m of the biofilter bed at the low and high TWT, and the abundances were not the main factor affecting the removal efficiency, however the activity.