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Pan J, Li J, Zhang T, Liu T, Xu K, Wang C, Zheng M. Complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) at pH 3-4 supports stable production of ammonium nitrate from urine. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 257:121686. [PMID: 38705065 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
This study developed a new process that stably produced ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), an important and commonly used fertilizer, from the source-separated urine by comammox Nitrospira. In the first stage, the complete conversion of ammonium to nitrate was achieved by comammox Nitrospira. In this scenario, the pH was maintained at 6 by adding external alkali, which also provided sufficient alkalinity for full nitrification. In the second stage, the NH4NO3 was produced directly by comammox Nitropsira by converting half of the ammonium in urine into nitrate. In this case, no alkali was added and pH automatically dropped and self-maintained at an extremely acidic level (pH 3-4). In both scenarios, negligible nitrite accumulation was observed, while the final product of the second stage contained ammonium and nitrate at the molar ratio of 1:1. The dominance of comammox Nitrospira over canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was systematically proved by the combination of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and metagenomics. Notably, metagenomic sequencing suggested that the relative abundance of comammox Nitrospira was over 20 % under the acidic condition at pH 3-4, while canonical AOB and NOB were undetectable. Batch experiments showed that the optimal pH for the enriched comammox Nitrospira was ∼7, which could sustain their activity in a wider pH range from 4 to 8 surprisingly but lost activity at pH 3 and 9. The findings not only present an application potential of comammox Nitrospira in nitrogen recovery from urine wastewater but also report the survivability of comammox bacteria in acidic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhao Pan
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jiyun Li
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Tingting Zhang
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Kangning Xu
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Chengwen Wang
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
| | - Min Zheng
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
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Guo Z, Ma XS, Ni SQ. Journey of the swift nitrogen transformation: Unveiling comammox from discovery to deep understanding. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 358:142093. [PMID: 38679176 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
COMplete AMMonia OXidizer (comammox) refers to microorganisms that have the function of oxidizing NH4+ to NO3- alone. The discovery of comammox overturned the two-step theory of nitrification in the past century and triggered many important scientific questions about the nitrogen cycle in nature. This comprehensive review delves into the origin and discovery of comammox, providing a detailed account of its detection primers, clades metabolic variations, and environmental factors. An in-depth analysis of the ecological niche differentiation among ammonia oxidizers was also discussed. The intricate role of comammox in anammox systems and the relationship between comammox and nitrogen compound emissions are also discussed. Finally, the relationship between comammox and anammox is displayed, and the future research direction of comammox is prospected. This review reveals the metabolic characteristics and distribution patterns of comammox in ecosystems, providing new perspectives for understanding nitrogen cycling and microbial ecology. Additionally, it offers insights into the potential application value and prospects of comammox.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Guo
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China
| | - Xue Song Ma
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China
| | - Shou-Qing Ni
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China.
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3
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Shah AS, Hsu PC, Chisholm C, Podolyan A, Cameron K, Luo J, Stenger R, Carrick S, Hu W, Ferguson SA, Wei W, Shen J, Zhang L, Liu H, Zhao T, Wei W, Ding W, Pan H, Liu Y, Li B, Du J, Di HJ. Nitrification inhibitor chlorate and nitrogen substrates differentially affect comammox Nitrospira in a grassland soil. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1392090. [PMID: 38808273 PMCID: PMC11130707 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1392090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Through the combined use of two nitrification inhibitors, Dicyandiamide (DCD) and chlorate with nitrogen amendment, this study aimed to investigate the contribution of comammox Nitrospira clade B, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) to nitrification in a high fertility grassland soil, in a 90-day incubation study. Methods The soil was treated with nitrogen (N) at three levels: 0 mg-N kg-1 soil, 50 mg-N kg-1 soil, and 700 mg-N kg-1 soil, with or without the two nitrification inhibitors. The abundance of comammox Nitrospira, AOA, AOB, and nitrite oxidising bacteria (NOB) was measured using qPCR. The comammox Nitrospira community structure was assessed using Illumina sequencing. Results and Discussion The results showed that the application of chlorate inhibited the oxidation of both NH4+ and NO2- in all three nitrogen treatments. The application of chlorate significantly reduced the abundance of comammox Nitrospira amoA and nxrB genes across the 90-day experimental period. Chlorate also had a significant effect on the beta diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) of the comammox Nitrospira clade B community. Whilst AOB grew in response to the N substrate additions and were inhibited by both inhibitors, AOA showed litle or no response to either the N substrate or inhibitor treatments. In contrast, comammox Nitrospira clade B were inhibited by the high ammonium concentrations released from the urine substrates. These results demonstrate the differential and niche responses of the three ammonia oxidising communities to N substrate additions and nitrification inhibitor treatments. Further research is needed to investigate the specificity of the two inhibitors on the different ammonia oxidising communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anish S. Shah
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Pei-Chun Hsu
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Chris Chisholm
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Andriy Podolyan
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Keith Cameron
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | | | - Roland Stenger
- Lincoln Agritech, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Sam Carrick
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Wei Hu
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Scott A. Ferguson
- Department of Microbiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Wenhua Wei
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Limei Zhang
- Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hongbin Liu
- Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tongke Zhao
- Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wenxue Wei
- Institute of Subtropical Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Weixin Ding
- Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Hong Pan
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China
| | - Yimeng Liu
- Centre for Innovation and Development, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Bowen Li
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Jianjun Du
- College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hong J. Di
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
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Liu H, Jiao P, Guan L, Wang C, Zhang XX, Ma L. Functional traits and health implications of the global household drinking-water microbiome retrieved using an integrative genome-centric approach. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 250:121094. [PMID: 38183799 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.121094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024]
Abstract
The biological safety of drinking water plays a crucial role in public health protection. However, research on the drinking water microbiome remains in its infancy, especially little is known about the potentially pathogenic bacteria in and functional characteristics of the microbiome in household tap water that people are directly exposed to. In this study, we used a genomic-centric approach to construct a genetic catalogue of the drinking water microbiome by analysing 116 metagenomic datasets of household tap water worldwide, spanning nine countries/regions on five continents. We reconstructed 859 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) spanning 27 bacterial and 2 archaeal phyla, and found that the core MAGs belonging to the phylum Proteobacteria encoded the highest metabolic functional diversity of the 33 key complete metabolic modules. In particular, we found that two core MAGs of Brevibacillus and Methylomona encoded genes for methane metabolism, which may support the growth of heterotrophic organisms observed in the oligotrophic ecosystem. Four MAGs of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) Nitrospira were identified and functional metabolic analysis suggested these may enable mixotrophic growth and encode genes for reactive oxygen stress defence and arsenite reduction that could aid survival in the environment of oligotrophic drinking water systems. Four MAGs were annotated as potentially pathogenic bacteria (PPB) and thus represented a possible public health concern. They belonged to the genera Acinetobacter (n = 3) and Mycobacterium (n = 1), with a total relative abundance of 1.06 % in all samples. The genomes of PPB A. junii and A. ursingii were discovered to contain antibiotic resistance genes and mobile genetic elements that could contribute to antimicrobial dissemination in drinking water. Further network analysis suggested that symbiotic microbes which support the growth of pathogenic bacteria can be targets for future surveillance and removal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huafeng Liu
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China
| | - Pengbo Jiao
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China
| | - Lei Guan
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China
| | - Chen Wang
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China
| | - Xu-Xiang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, PR China
| | - Liping Ma
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, Technology Innovation Center for Land Spatial Eco-restoration in Metropolitan Area, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shanghai 200062, PR China.
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5
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Zhao X, Xie Y, Sun B, Liu Y, Zhu S, Li W, Zhao M, Liu D. Unraveling microbial characteristics of simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 239:117402. [PMID: 37838199 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023]
Abstract
This study describes the simultaneous removal of carbon, ammonium, and phosphate from domestic wastewater by a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) which was operated for 360 days. During the operation, the maximum removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) reached 93.1%, 83.98%, and 96.41%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the MABR could potentially treat wastewater with a high ammonium concentration and a relatively low C/N ratio. Dissolved oxygen and multiple pollutants, including ammonium, carbon, phosphate, and sulfate, shaped the structure of the microbial community in the MABR. High throughput sequencing uncovered the crucial microbiome in ammonium transformation in MABR. Phylogenetic analysis of the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes revealed an important role for comammox Nitrospira in the nitrification process. Diverse novel phosphate-accumulating organisms (Thauera, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas) and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (Thiobacillus, Thiothrix and Sulfurimonas) were potentially involved in denitrification in MABR. The results from this study suggested that MABR could be a feasible system for the simultaneous removal of nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, and sulfur from sewage water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and Robotics for Agriculture of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Agri-biological Environment Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ecological Treatment Technology for Urban Water Pollution, College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China
| | - Yinglong Xie
- Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and Robotics for Agriculture of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Agri-biological Environment Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, 310014 Hangzhou, China
| | - Bo Sun
- National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ecological Treatment Technology for Urban Water Pollution, College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China
| | - Ying Liu
- Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and Robotics for Agriculture of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Agri-biological Environment Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Songming Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and Robotics for Agriculture of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Agri-biological Environment Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Wei Li
- Research Center for Eco-environmental Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China
| | - Min Zhao
- National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ecological Treatment Technology for Urban Water Pollution, College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
| | - Dezhao Liu
- Key Laboratory of Equipment and Informatization in Environment Controlled Agriculture from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Key Laboratory of Intelligent Equipment and Robotics for Agriculture of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Agri-biological Environment Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
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6
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Tang X, Li Y, Liu M, Hou L, Han P. Abundance, diversity and physiological preferences of comammox Nitrospira in urban groundwater. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 904:167333. [PMID: 37748616 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox Nitrospira), catalyze complete nitrification process in a single organism, are frequently detected in groundwater ecosystem. However, the ecological niches and environmental driving factors of comammox Nitrospira in urban groundwater are largely unknown. Here we investigated the communities of ammonia oxidizers in urban groundwater located in Shanghai city, China. Quantitative analysis demonstrated the dominance of comammox Nitrospira over classical ammonia oxidizers (ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria, AOA and AOB). Phylogenetic analysis showed clades B and A2 comprise the majority of comammox Nitrospira groups. Temperature was one of the most vital factors affecting comammox Nitrospira community. Furthermore, clade A comammox Nitrospira can be enriched by urea substrate, which was in line with the ability of utilizing urea by the pure clade A comammox culture Nitrospira inopinata. In addition, we observed that relatively low temperature (<20 °C) and high copper levels (>0.04 mg L-1) can stimulate the growth of comammox Nitrospira. Overall, this study revealed the presence, diversity and physiological preferences of comammox Nitrospira in urban groundwater nitrification, shedding insights on the ecological roles of comammox Nitrospira in subsurface environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiufeng Tang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Ye Li
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Lijun Hou
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
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7
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Liu Q, Chen Y, Xu XW. Genomic insight into strategy, interaction and evolution of nitrifiers in metabolizing key labile-dissolved organic nitrogen in different environmental niches. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1273211. [PMID: 38156017 PMCID: PMC10753782 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1273211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are responsible for nitrification in nature; however, some groups have been reported to utilize labile-dissolved organic nitrogen (LDON) for satisfying nitrogen demands. To understand the universality of their capacity of LDON metabolism, we collected 70 complete genomes of AOA, AOB, NOB, and comammox from typical environments for exploring their potentials in the metabolism of representative LDON (urea, polyamines, cyanate, taurine, glycine betaine, and methylamine). Genomic analyses showed that urea was the most popular LDON used by nitrifiers. Each group harbored unique urea transporter genes (AOA: dur3 and utp, AOB: utp, and NOB and comammox: urtABCDE and utp) accompanied by urease genes ureABC. The differentiation in the substrate affinity of these transporters implied the divergence of urea utilization efficiency in nitrifiers, potentially driving them into different niches. The cyanate transporter (cynABD and focA/nirC) and degradation (cynS) genes were detected mostly in NOB, indicating their preference for a wide range of nitrogen substrates to satisfy high nitrogen demands. The lack of genes involved in the metabolism of polyamines, taurine, glycine betaine, and methylamines in most of nitrifiers suggested that they were not able to serve as a source of ammonium, only if they were degraded or oxidized extracellularly as previously reported. The phylogenetic analyses assisted with comparisons of GC% and the Codon Adaptation Index between target genes and whole genomes of nitrifiers implied that urea metabolic genes dur3 and ureC in AOA evolved independently from bacteria during the transition from Thaumarchaeota to AOA, while utp in terrestrial AOA was acquired from bacteria via lateral gene transfer (LGT). Cyanate transporter genes cynS and focA/nirC detected only in a terrestrial AOA Candidadus Nitrsosphaera gargensis Ga9.2 could be gained synchronously with Nitrospira of NOB by an ancient LGT. Our results indicated that LDON utilization was a common feature in nitrifiers, but metabolic potentials were different among nitrifiers, possibly being intensely interacted with their niches, survival strategies, and evolutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Liu
- Donghai Laboratory, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yuhao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xue-Wei Xu
- Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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8
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Ishizaki Y, Kurisu F, Furumai H, Kasuga I. Autotrophic growth activity of complete ammonia oxidizers in an upflow biological contact filter for drinking water treatment. Lett Appl Microbiol 2023; 76:ovad105. [PMID: 37679291 DOI: 10.1093/lambio/ovad105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Biological filters effectively remove ammonium from drinking water via nitrification. In a pilot-scale upflow biological contact filter (U-BCF), complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which are capable of oxidizing ammonia to nitrate in one cell, were more abundant than ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). However, little information is available on the contribution of comammox to nitrification. In this study, we evaluated the autotrophic growth activity of comammox associated with biological activated carbon (BAC) in a U-BCF by DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP). BAC samples collected from the U-BCF were continuously fed mineral medium containing 0.14 mg N L-1 ammonium and 12C- or 13C-labeled bicarbonate for 20 days. DNA-SIP analysis revealed that comammox (clades A and B) as well as AOA assimilated bicarbonate after 10 days of incubation, proving that dominant comammox could contribute to nitrification. Contrarily, AOB remained inactive throughout the observation period. Amplicon sequencing of the 13C-labeled DNA fractions of comammox revealed that specific genotypes other than the most dominant genotype in the original sample were more enriched under the incubation condition for the DNA-SIP experiment. Thus, dominant genotypes of comammox in a U-BCF might utilize organic nitrogen to fuel nitrification in ammonia-limited environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Ishizaki
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Futoshi Kurisu
- Research Center for Water Environment Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Furumai
- Research and Development Initiative, Chuo University, Bunkyo, Tokyo 112-8551, Japan
| | - Ikuro Kasuga
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
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9
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Su Z, Liu T, Guo J, Zheng M. Nitrite Oxidation in Wastewater Treatment: Microbial Adaptation and Suppression Challenges. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:12557-12570. [PMID: 37589598 PMCID: PMC10470456 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c00636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Microbial nitrite oxidation is the primary pathway that generates nitrate in wastewater treatment systems and can be performed by a variety of microbes: namely, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Since NOB were first isolated 130 years ago, the understanding of the phylogenetical and physiological diversities of NOB has been gradually deepened. In recent endeavors of advanced biological nitrogen removal, NOB have been more considered as a troublesome disruptor, and strategies on NOB suppression often fail in practice after long-term operation due to the growth of specific NOB that are able to adapt to even harsh conditions. In line with a review of the history of currently known NOB genera, a phylogenetic tree is constructed to exhibit a wide range of NOB in different phyla. In addition, the growth behavior and metabolic performance of different NOB strains are summarized. These specific features of various NOB (e.g., high oxygen affinity of Nitrospira, tolerance to chemical inhibitors of Nitrobacter and Candidatus Nitrotoga, and preference to high temperature of Nitrolancea) highlight the differentiation of the NOB ecological niche in biological nitrogen processes and potentially support their adaptation to different suppression strategies (e.g., low dissolved oxygen, chemical treatment, and high temperature). This review implicates the acquired physiological characteristics of NOB to their emergence from a genomic and ecological perspective and emphasizes the importance of understanding physiological characterization and genomic information in future wastewater treatment studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zicheng Su
- Australian Centre for Water
and Environmental Biotechnology, The University
of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water
and Environmental Biotechnology, The University
of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water
and Environmental Biotechnology, The University
of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water
and Environmental Biotechnology, The University
of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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10
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Li B, Godfrey BJ, RedCorn R, Candry P, Abrahamson B, Wang Z, Goel R, Winkler MKH. Mainstream nitrogen removal from low temperature and low ammonium strength municipal wastewater using hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 242:120303. [PMID: 37419028 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Application of partial nitritation (PN)-anammox to mainstream wastewater treatment faces challenges in low water temperature and low ammonium strength. In this study, a continuous flow PN-anammox reactor with hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox was designed and operated for nitrogen removal from mainstream wastewater with low temperature. Long-term operation with synthetic and real wastewater as the feed demonstrated nearly complete ammonium and total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal by the reactor at temperatures as low as 10 °C. A significantly decreased nitrogen removal performance and biomass activity was observed in the reactor at 4 °C before a selective heating strategy was employed. A novel heating technology using radiation to heat carbon black co-encapsulated in the hydrogel matrix with biomass was used to selectively heat biomass but not water in the treatment system. This selective heating technology enabled nearly complete ammonium removal and 89.4 ± 4.3 % TIN removal at influent temperature of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C. Activity tests suggested selective heating brought the biomass activity at influent temperatures of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C to a level comparable to that at 10 °C. Comammox and anammox were consistently present in the system and spatially organized in the hydrogel beads as revealed by qPCR and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH). The abundance of comammox largely decreased by 3 orders of magnitude during the operation at 4 °C, and rapidly recovered after the application of selective heating. The anammox-comammox technology tested in this study essentially enabled mainstream shortcut nitrogen removal, and the selective heating ensured good performance of the technology at temperature as low as 5 °C.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Li
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
| | - Bruce J Godfrey
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Raymond RedCorn
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Pieter Candry
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Britt Abrahamson
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Zhiwu Wang
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, 1230 Washington St. SW, Blacksburg VA 24061, VA 20147, USA
| | - Ramesh Goel
- The University of Utah, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, 110 S. Central Campus Drive, 2000MCE, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Mari-K H Winkler
- University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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11
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Yuan S, Guo S, Tan Y, Li M, Lu Y, Xu R, Tawfik A, Zhou Z, Chen J, Liu W, Meng F. Deciphering community assembly and succession in sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor: Differentiation between attached and suspended communities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 873:162448. [PMID: 36828058 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Elucidating community assembly and succession is crucial to understanding the ecosystem functioning. Herein, the ecological processes underpinning community assembly and succession were studied to uncover the respective ecological functions of attached biofilms and suspended biomass in a sequencing batch moving bed biofilm reactor. Compared with suspended biomass, attached biofilms presented higher relative abundances of Nitrospira (2.94 %) and Nitrosomonas (1.25 %), and contributed to 66.89 ± 11.37 % and 68.11 ± 12.72 % of nitrification and denitrification activities, respectively. The microbial source tracking result demonstrated that early formation of suspended biomass was dominated by the seeding effect of detached biofilms in the start-up period (days 0-30), while self-growth of previous suspended biomass was eventually outcompeted the seeding effect when the reactor stabilized (days 31-120). Null model and ecological network analysis further suggested distinctive ecological processes underpinning the differentiation between attached and suspended communities in the same reactor. Specifically, in the start-up period, positive interactions facilitated early formation of attached (73.84 %) and suspended communities (59.41 %), while homogenous selection (88.89 %) and homogenizing dispersal (65.71 %) governed assembly of attached and suspended communities, respectively. When the reactor stabilized, attached and suspended communities showed low composition turnover as reflected by dominant homogenizing dispersal, while they presented distinctive trends of interspecies interactions. This study sheds light on discrepant ecological processes governing community differentiation of attached biofilms and suspended biomass, which would provide ecological insights into the regulation of hybrid ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shasha Yuan
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Sixian Guo
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Yongtao Tan
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Mengdi Li
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Yi Lu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Ronghua Xu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Ahmed Tawfik
- National Research Centre, Water Pollution Research Department, 12622, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Zanmin Zhou
- Zhuhai Urban Drainage Co., Ltd., Zhuhai 519000, China
| | - Jincan Chen
- Zhuhai Urban Drainage Co., Ltd., Zhuhai 519000, China
| | - Wanli Liu
- Zhuhai Water Environment Holdings Group Ltd., Zhuhai 519000, China
| | - Fangang Meng
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou 510275, China.
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12
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Kang D, Zhao X, Wang N, Suo Y, Yuan J, Peng Y. Redirecting carbon to recover VFA to facilitate biological short-cut nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment: A critical review. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 238:120015. [PMID: 37146394 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are facing a great challenge to transition from energy-intensive to carbon-neutral and energy-efficient systems. Biological nutrient removal (BNR) can be severely impacted by carbon limitation, particularly for wastewater with a low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio, which can significantly increase the operational costs. Waste activated sludge (WAS) is a valuable byproduct of WWTPs, as it contains high levels of organic matter that can be utilized to improve BNR management by recovering and reusing the fermentative volatile fatty acids (VFAs). This review provides a comprehensive examination of the recovery and reuse of VFAs in wastewater management, with a particular focus on advancing the preferable biological short-cut nitrogen removal process for carbon-insufficient municipal wastewaters. First, the method of carbon redirection for recovering VFAs was reviewed. Carbon could be captured through the two-stage A/B process or via sludge fermentation with different sludge pretreatment and process control strategies to accelerate sludge hydrolysis and inhibit methanogens to enhance VFA production. Second, VFAs can support the metabolism of autotrophic N-cycling microorganisms involved in wastewater treatment, such as AOB, NOB, anammox, and comammox bacteria. However, VFAs can also cause inhibition at high concentrations, leading to the partition of AOB and NOB; and can promote partial denitrification as an efficient carbon source for heterotrophic denitrifiers. Third, the lab- and pilot-scale engineering practices with different configurations (i.e., A2O, SBR, UASB) were summarized that have shown the feasibility of utilizing the fermentate to achieve superior nitrogen removal performance without the need for external carbon addition. Lastly, the future perspectives on leveraging the relationships between mainstream and sidestream, nitrogen and phosphorus, autotrophs and heterotrophs were given for sustainable and efficient BNR management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Da Kang
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China
| | - Xuwei Zhao
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China
| | - Nan Wang
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China
| | - Yirui Suo
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China
| | - Jiawei Yuan
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China
| | - Yongzhen Peng
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Beijing University of Technology, China.
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13
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Zhang Y, Liu T, Li MM, Hua ZS, Evans P, Qu Y, Tan S, Zheng M, Lu H, Jiao JY, Lücker S, Daims H, Li WJ, Guo J. Hot spring distribution and survival mechanisms of thermophilic comammox Nitrospira. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023:10.1038/s41396-023-01409-w. [PMID: 37069235 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01409-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of Nitrospira species capable of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) in non-marine natural and engineered ecosystems under mesothermal conditions has changed our understanding of microbial nitrification. However, little is known about the occurrence of comammox bacteria or their ability to survive in moderately thermal and/or hyperthermal habitats. Here, we report the wide distribution of comammox Nitrospira in five terrestrial hot springs at temperatures ranging from 36 to 80°C and provide metagenome-assembled genomes of 11 new comammox strains. Interestingly, the identification of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) in thermophilic comammox Nitrospira lineages suggests that they have versatile ecological functions as both sinks and sources of ammonia, in contrast to the described mesophilic comammox lineages, which lack the DNRA pathway. Furthermore, the in situ expression of key genes associated with nitrogen metabolism, thermal adaptation, and oxidative stress confirmed their ability to survive in the studied hot springs and their contribution to nitrification in these environments. Additionally, the smaller genome size and higher GC content, less polar and more charged amino acids in usage profiles, and the expression of a large number of heat shock proteins compared to mesophilic comammox strains presumably confer tolerance to thermal stress. These novel insights into the occurrence, metabolic activity, and adaptation of comammox Nitrospira in thermal habitats further expand our understanding of the global distribution of comammox Nitrospira and have significant implications for how these unique microorganisms have evolved thermal tolerance strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhang
- School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Meng-Meng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zheng-Shuang Hua
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
| | - Paul Evans
- The Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Yanni Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Sha Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Hui Lu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China
| | - Jian-Yu Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Holger Daims
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
- The Comammox Research Platform, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wen-Jun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
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14
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Li D, Ren Z, Zhou Y, Jiang L, Zheng M, Liu G. Comammox Nitrospira and Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Are Dominant Ammonia Oxidizers in Sediments of an Acid Mine Lake Containing High Ammonium Concentrations. Appl Environ Microbiol 2023; 89:e0004723. [PMID: 36912626 PMCID: PMC10056971 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00047-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Exploring nitrifiers in extreme environments is vital to expanding our understanding of nitrogen cycle and microbial diversity. This study presents that complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) Nitrospira, together with acidophilic ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), dominate in the nitrifying guild in sediments of an acid mine lake (AML). The lake water was characterized by acidic pH below 5 with a high ammonium concentration of 175 mg-N/liter, which is rare on the earth. Nitrification was active in sediments with a maximum nitrate production potential of 70.5 μg-N/(g-dry weight [dw] day) for mixed sediments. Quantitative PCR assays determined that in AML sediments, comammox Nitrospira and AOA amoA genes had relative abundances of 52% and 41%, respectively, among the total amoA genes. Further assays with 16S rRNA and amoA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics confirmed their dominance and revealed that the comammox Nitrospira found in sediments belonged to comammox Nitrospira clade A.2. Metagenomic binning retrieved a metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) of the comammox Nitrospira from sediments (completeness = 96.76%), and phylogenomic analysis suggested that it was a novel comammox Nitrospira. Comparative genomic investigation revealed that this comammox Nitrospira contained diverse metal resistance genes and an acidophile-affiliated F-type ATPase. Moreover, it had a more diverse genomic characteristic on nitrogen metabolism than the AOA in sediments and canonical AOB did. The results suggest that comammox Nitrospira is a versatile nitrifier that can adapt to acidic environments even with high ammonium concentrations. IMPORTANCE Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) was previously considered the sole dominant ammonia oxidizer in acidic environments. This study, however, found that complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) Nitrospira was also a dominant ammonia oxidizer in the sediments of an acidic mine lake, which had an acidic pH < 5 and a high ammonium concentration of 175 mg-N/liter. In combination with average nucleotide identity analysis, phylogenomic analysis suggested it is a novel strain of comammox Nitrospira. Moreover, the adaption of comammox Nitrospira to the acidic lake had been comprehensively investigated based on genome-centric metagenomic approaches. The outcomes of this study significantly expand our understanding of the diversity and adaptability of ammonia oxidizers in the acidic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deyong Li
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Zhichang Ren
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Yangqi Zhou
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Lugao Jiang
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Guoqiang Liu
- Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, and School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
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15
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Vilardi K, Cotto I, Bachmann M, Parsons M, Klaus S, Wilson C, Bott CB, Pieper KJ, Pinto AJ. Co-Occurrence and Cooperation between Comammox and Anammox Bacteria in a Full-Scale Attached Growth Municipal Wastewater Treatment Process. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:5013-5023. [PMID: 36913533 PMCID: PMC10061930 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Cooperation between comammox and anammox bacteria for nitrogen removal has been recently reported in laboratory-scale systems, including synthetic community constructs; however, there are no reports of full-scale municipal wastewater treatment systems with such cooperation. Here, we report intrinsic and extant kinetics as well as genome-resolved community characterization of a full-scale integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) system where comammox and anammox bacteria co-occur and appear to drive nitrogen loss. Intrinsic batch kinetic assays indicated that majority of the aerobic ammonia oxidation was driven by comammox bacteria (1.75 ± 0.08 mg-N/g TS-h) in the attached growth phase, with minimal contribution by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Interestingly, a portion of total inorganic nitrogen (∼8%) was consistently lost during these aerobic assays. Aerobic nitrite oxidation assays eliminated the possibility of denitrification as a cause of nitrogen loss, while anaerobic ammonia oxidation assays resulted in rates consistent with anammox stoichiometry. Full-scale experiments at different dissolved oxygen (DO = 2 - 6 mg/L) setpoints indicated persistent nitrogen loss that was partly sensitive to DO concentrations. Genome-resolved metagenomics confirmed the high abundance (relative abundance 6.53 ± 0.34%) of two Brocadia-like anammox populations, while comammox bacteria within the Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa cluster were lower in abundance (0.37 ± 0.03%) and Nitrosomonas-like ammonia oxidizers were even lower (0.12 ± 0.02%). Collectively, our study reports for the first time the co-occurrence and cooperation of comammox and anammox bacteria in a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Vilardi
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Irmarie Cotto
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
| | - Megan Bachmann
- Hampton
Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia
Beach, Virginia 23455, United States
| | - Mike Parsons
- Hampton
Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia
Beach, Virginia 23455, United States
| | - Stephanie Klaus
- Hampton
Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia
Beach, Virginia 23455, United States
| | - Christopher Wilson
- Hampton
Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia
Beach, Virginia 23455, United States
| | - Charles B. Bott
- Hampton
Roads Sanitation District, 1434 Air Rail Avenue, Virginia
Beach, Virginia 23455, United States
| | - Kelsey J. Pieper
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Ameet J. Pinto
- School
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
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16
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Han P, Rios-Miguel AB, Tang X, Yu Y, Zhou LJ, Hou L, Liu M, Sun D, Jetten MSM, Welte CU, Men Y, Lücker S. Benzimidazole fungicide biotransformation by comammox Nitrospira bacteria: Transformation pathways and associated proteomic responses. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 445:130558. [PMID: 36495641 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Benzimidazole fungicides are frequently detected in aquatic environments and pose a serious health risk. Here, we investigated the metabolic capacity of the recently discovered complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira inopinata and kreftii to transform a representative set of benzimidazole fungicides (i.e., benzimidazole, albendazole, carbendazim, fuberidazole, and thiabendazole). Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea, as well as the canonical nitrite-oxidizing Nitrospira exhibited no or minor biotransformation activity towards all the five benzimidazole fungicides. In contrast, the investigated comammox bacteria actively transformed all the five benzimidazole fungicides, except for thiabendazole. The identified transformation products indicated hydroxylation, S-oxidation, and glycosylation as the major biotransformation pathways of benzimidazole fungicides. We speculated that these reactions were catalyzed by comammox-specific ammonia monooxygenase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, and glycosylases, respectively. Interestingly, the exposure to albendazole enhanced the expression of the antibiotic resistance gene acrB of Nitrospira inopinata, suggesting that some benzimidazole fungicides could act as environmental stressors that trigger cellular defense mechanisms. Altogether, this study demonstrated the distinct substrate specificity of comammox bacteria towards benzimidazole fungicides and implies their significant roles in the biotransformation of these fungicides in nitrifying environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
| | - Ana B Rios-Miguel
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Xiufeng Tang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Yaochun Yu
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
| | - Li-Jun Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
| | - Lijun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Dongyao Sun
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; School of Geography Science and Geomatics Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Cornelia U Welte
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Yujie Men
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, United States.
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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17
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Ecophysiological and Genomic Characterization of the Freshwater Complete Ammonia Oxidizer Nitrospira sp. Strain BO4. Appl Environ Microbiol 2023; 89:e0196522. [PMID: 36719237 PMCID: PMC9973019 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01965-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) are a group of ubiquitous chemolithoautotrophic bacteria capable of deriving energy from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite. Here, we present a study characterizing the comammox strain Nitrospira sp. BO4 using a combination of cultivation-dependent and molecular methods. The enrichment culture BO4 was obtained from the sediment of Lake Burr Oak, a mesotrophic lake in eastern Ohio. The metagenome of the enrichment culture was sequenced, and a metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) was constructed for Nitrospira sp. BO4. The closest characterized relative of Nitrospira sp. BO4 was "Candidatus Nitrospira kreftii." All genes for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, reductive tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and other pathways of the central metabolism were detected. Nitrospira sp. BO4 used ammonia and oxidized it to nitrate with nitrite as the intermediate. The culture grew on initial ammonium concentrations between 0.01 and 3 mM with the highest rates observed at the lowest ammonium concentrations. Blue light completely inhibited the growth of Nitrospira sp. BO4, while white light reduced the growth and red light had no effect on the growth. Nitrospira sp. BO4 did not grow on nitrite as its sole substrate. When supplied with ammonium and nitrite, the culture utilized nitrite after most of the ammonium was consumed. In summary, the genomic information of Nitrospira sp. BO4 coupled with the growth experiments shows that Nitrospira sp. BO4 is a freshwater comammox species. Future research will focus on further characterization of the niches of comammox in freshwater environments. IMPORTANCE Nitrification is a key process in the global nitrogen cycle. Complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) were discovered recently, and only three enrichment cultures and one pure culture have been characterized with respect to activity and growth under different conditions. The cultivated comammox strains were obtained from engineered systems such as a recirculating aquaculture system and hot water pipes. Here, we present the first study characterizing a comammox strain obtained from a mesotrophic freshwater lake. In freshwater environments, comammox coexist with ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Our results will help elucidate physiological characteristics of comammox and the distribution and niche differentiation of different ammonia oxidizers in freshwater environments.
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18
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Johnston J, Du Z, Behrens S. Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria Maintain Abundance but Lower amoA-Gene Expression during Cold Temperature Nitrification Failure in a Full-Scale Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0257122. [PMID: 36786623 PMCID: PMC10100873 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02571-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
In this study, we explore the relationship between community structure and transcriptional activity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria during cold temperature nitrification failure in three parallel full-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) treating municipal wastewater. In the three reactors, ammonia concentrations increased with declines in wastewater temperature below 15°C. We quantified and sequenced 16S rRNA and ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene fragments in DNA and RNA extracts from activated sludge samples collected from the SBRs during the warmer seasons (summer and fall) and when water temperatures were below 15°C (winter and spring). Taxonomic community composition of amoA genes and transcripts did not vary much between the warmer and colder seasons. However, we observed significant differences in amoA transcript copy numbers between fall (highest) and spring (lowest). Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrosomonas sp. could maintain their population abundance despite lowering their amoA gene expression during winter and spring. In spite of relatively low population abundance, an amoA amplicon sequence variant (ASV) cluster identified as most similar to the amoA gene of Nitrosospira briensis showed the highest amoA transcript-to-gene ratio throughout all four seasons, indicating that some nitrifiers remain active at wastewater temperatures below 15°C. Our results show that 16S rRNA and amoA gene copy numbers are limited predictors of cell activity. To optimize function and performance of mixed community bioprocesses, we need to collect high-resolution quantitative transcriptomic and potentially proteomic data to resolve the response of individual species to changes in environmental parameters in engineered systems. IMPORTANCE The diverse microbial community of activated sludge used in biological treatment systems exhibits dynamic seasonal shifts in community composition and activity. Many wastewater treatment plants in temperate/continental climates experience seasonal cold temperature nitrification failure. "Seasonal nitrification failure" is the discharge of elevated concentrations of ammonia (greater than 4 mg/liter) with treated wastewater during the winter (influent wastewater temperatures below 13°C). This study aims at expanding our understanding of how ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in activated sludge change in activity and growth across seasons. We quantified the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene and transcript copy numbers using real-time PCR and sequenced the amoA amplicons to reveal community structure and activity changes of nitrifying microbial populations during seasonal nitrification failure in three full-scale sequencing batch reactors (SRBs) treating municipal wastewater. Relevant findings presented in this study contribute to explain seasonal nitrification performance variability in SRBs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliet Johnston
- University of Minnesota, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Livermore, California, USA
| | - Zhe Du
- University of Minnesota, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Center for Environmental Health Risk Assessment and Research, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sebastian Behrens
- University of Minnesota, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- University of Minnesota, BioTechnology Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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19
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Wang Y, Zeng X, Ma Q, Zhang Y, Yu W, Zheng Z, Zhang N, Xu L. Differential responses of canonical nitrifiers and comammox Nitrospira to long-term fertilization in an Alfisol of Northeast China. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1095937. [PMID: 36819044 PMCID: PMC9929954 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1095937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The newly identified complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) that converts ammonia directly into nitrate has redefined the long-held paradigm of two-step nitrification mediated by two distinct groups of nitrifiers. However, exploration of the niche differentiation of canonical nitrifiers and comammox Nitrospira and their ecological importance in agroecosystems is still limited. Here, we adopted quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Illumina MiSeq sequencing to investigate the effects of five long-term fertilization regimes in the variations of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and comammox Nitrospira abundances and comammox community composition in two soil layers (0-20 cm, topsoil; 20-40 cm, subsoil) in an Alfisol in Northeast China. The fertilization treatments included no fertilizer (CK); chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer; chemical N; phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers (NPK); recycled organic manure (M) and chemical N, P, K plus recycled manure (MNPK). Compared with CK, manure and/or chemical fertilizer significantly increased the AOB amoA gene abundance. Long-term recycled manure increased soil organic matter (SOM) contents and maintained the soil pH, but decreased the NH4 +-N concentrations, which markedly promoted the nxrA and nxrB gene abundances of NOB and the amoA gene abundances of comammox Nitrospira clade A and AOA. Although the comammox Nitrospira clade B abundance tended to decrease after fertilization, the structural equation modeling analysis showed that comammox clade B had direct positive impacts on soil potential ammonia oxidation (PAO; λ = 0.59, p < 0.001). The long-term fertilization regime altered the community composition of comammox Nitrospira. Additionally, comammox Nitrospira clades A and B had individual response patterns to the soil layer. The relative abundance of clade A was predominant in the topsoil in the N (86.5%) and MNPK (76.4%) treatments, while clade B appeared to be dominant in the subsoil (from 78.7 to 88.1%) with lower ammonium contents, implying niche separation between these clades. Soil pH, NH4 +-N and SOM content were crucial factors shaping the soil nitrifying microbial abundances and the comammox Nitrospira community. Together, these findings expand the current understanding of the niche specialization and the important role of comammox Nitrospira in terrestrial ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanan Wang
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xibai Zeng
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China,*Correspondence: Xibai Zeng, ✉
| | - Qiang Ma
- Insitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wantai Yu
- Insitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Zhong Zheng
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Nan Zhang
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Liyang Xu
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
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20
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Gottshall EY, Godfrey B, Li B, Abrahamson B, Qin W, Winkler M. Photoinhibition of comammox reaction in Nitrospira inopinata in a dose- and wavelength-dependent manner. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1022899. [PMID: 36590435 PMCID: PMC9797979 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1022899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Apparent contribution of complete ammonia-oxidizing organisms (comammox) to the global nitrogen cycle highlights the necessity for understanding niche differentiation of comammox bacteria among other ammonia oxidizers. While the high affinity for ammonia of the comammox species Nitrospira inopinata suggests their niche partitioning is expected to be centered in oligotrophic environments, their absence in nutrient-depleted environments (such as the oceans) suggests that other (abiotic) factors might control their distribution and spatial localization within microbial communities. Many ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing organisms are sensitive to light; however, the photosensitivity of comammox has not been explored. Since comammox bacteria encode enzymatic machinery homologous to canonical ammonia-and nitrite-oxidizers, we hypothesized that comammox N. inopinata, the only available pure culture of this group of microorganisms, may be inhibited by illumination in a similar manner. We evaluated the impact of light intensity, wavelength, and duration on the degree of photoinhibition for cultures of the comammox species N. inopinata and the soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea Nitrososphaera viennensis. Both species were highly sensitive to light. Interestingly, mimicking diurnal light exposure caused an uncoupling of ammonia and nitrite oxidation in N. inopinata, indicating nitrite oxidation might be more sensitive to light exposure than ammonia oxidation. It is likely that light influences comammox spatial distribution in natural environments such as surface fresh waters according to diurnal cycles, light attenuation coefficients, and the light penetration depths. Our findings therefore provide ecophysiological insights for further studies on comammox both in field and laboratory settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina Y. Gottshall
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States,*Correspondence: Ekaterina Y. Gottshall,
| | - Bruce Godfrey
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Bo Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Britt Abrahamson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Wei Qin
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Institute for Environmental Genomics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Mari Winkler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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21
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Hsu PC(L, Di HJ, Cameron K, Podolyan A, Chau H, Luo J, Miller B, Carrick S, Johnstone P, Ferguson S, Wei W, Shen J, Zhang L, Liu H, Zhao T, Wei W, Ding W, Pan H, Liu Y, Li B. Comammox Nitrospira Clade B is the most abundant complete ammonia oxidizer in a dairy pasture soil and inhibited by dicyandiamide and high ammonium concentrations. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:1048735. [PMID: 36578577 PMCID: PMC9791190 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1048735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The recent discovery of comammox Nitrospira, a complete ammonia oxidizer, capable of completing the nitrification on their own has presented tremendous challenges to our understanding of the nitrification process. There are two divergent clades of comammox Nitrospira, Clade A and B. However, their population abundance, community structure and role in ammonia and nitrite oxidation are poorly understood. We conducted a 94-day microcosm study using a grazed dairy pasture soil amended with urea fertilizers, synthetic cow urine, and the nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), to investigate the growth and community structure of comammox Nitrospira spp. We discovered that comammox Nitrospira Clade B was two orders of magnitude more abundant than Clade A in this fertile dairy pasture soil and the most abundant subcluster was a distinctive phylogenetic uncultured subcluster Clade B2. We found that comammox Nitrospira Clade B might not play a major role in nitrite oxidation compared to the role of canonical Nitrospira nitrite-oxidizers, however, comammox Nitrospira Clade B is active in nitrification and the growth of comammox Nitrospira Clade B was inhibited by a high ammonium concentration (700 kg synthetic urine-N ha-1) and the nitrification inhibitor DCD. We concluded that comammox Nitrospira Clade B: (1) was the most abundant comammox in the dairy pasture soil; (2) had a low tolerance to ammonium and can be inhibited by DCD; and (3) was not the dominant nitrite-oxidizer in the soil. This is the first study discovering a new subcluster of comammox Nitrospira Clade B2 from an agricultural soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Chun (Lisa) Hsu
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Hong J. Di
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand,*Correspondence: Hong J. Di,
| | - Keith Cameron
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Andriy Podolyan
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Henry Chau
- Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | | | - Blair Miller
- Lincoln Agritech Ltd, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Sam Carrick
- Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Paul Johnstone
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Havelock North, New Zealand
| | - Scott Ferguson
- Department of Microbiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Wenhua Wei
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Limei Zhang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hongbin Liu
- Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tongke Zhao
- Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wenxue Wei
- Institute of Subtropical Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Weixin Ding
- Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Hong Pan
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China
| | - Yimeng Liu
- Centre for Innovation and Development, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Bowen Li
- College of Natural Resources and Environment, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
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22
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Kowal P, Mehrani MJ, Sobotka D, Ciesielski S, Mąkinia J. Rearrangements of the nitrifiers population in an activated sludge system under decreasing solids retention times. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 214:113753. [PMID: 35772505 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Due to the key role of nitrite in novel nitrogen removal systems, nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) have been receiving increasing attention. In this study, the coexistence and interactions of nitrifying bacteria were explored at decreasing solids retention times (SRTs). Four 5-week washout experiments were carried out in laboratory-scale (V = 10 L) sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with mixed liquor from two full-scale activated sludge systems (continuous flow vs SBR). During the experiments, the SRT was gradually reduced from the initial value of 4.0 d to approximately 1.0 d. The reactors were operated under limited dissolved oxygen conditions (set point of 0.6 mg O2/L) and two process temperatures: 12 °C (winter) and 20 °C (summer). At both temperatures, the progressive SRT reduction was inefficient for the out-selection of both canonical NOB and comammox Nitrospira. However, the dominant NOB switched from Nitrospira to Ca. Nitrotoga, whereas the dominant AOB was always Nitrosomonas. The results of this study are important for optimizing NOB suppression strategies in the novel N removal processes, which are based on nitrite accumulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Przemyslaw Kowal
- Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza Street 11/12, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland.
| | - Mohamad-Javad Mehrani
- Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza Street 11/12, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Dominika Sobotka
- Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza Street 11/12, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Sławomir Ciesielski
- Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Ul. Sloneczna 45G, 10-709, Olsztyn, Poland
| | - Jacek Mąkinia
- Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza Street 11/12, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland
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23
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Yang Y, Lu Z, Azari M, Kartal B, Du H, Cai M, Herbold CW, Ding X, Denecke M, Li X, Li M, Gu JD. Discovery of a new genus of anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria with a mechanism for oxygen tolerance. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 226:119165. [PMID: 36257158 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In the past 20 years, there has been a major stride in understanding the core mechanism of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria, but there are still several discussion points on their survival strategies. Here, we discovered a new genus of anammox bacteria in a full-scale wastewater-treating biofilm system, tentatively named "Candidatus Loosdrechtia aerotolerans". Next to genes of all core anammox metabolisms, it encoded and transcribed genes involved in the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), which coupled to oxidation of small organic acids, could be used to replenish ammonium and sustain their metabolism. Surprisingly, it uniquely harbored a new ferredoxin-dependent nitrate reductase, which has not yet been found in any other anammox genome and might confer a selective advantage to it in nitrate assimilation. Similar to many other microorganisms, superoxide dismutase and catalase related to oxidative stress resistance were encoded and transcribed by "Ca. Loosdrechtia aerotolerans". Interestingly, bilirubin oxidase (BOD), likely involved in oxygen resistance of anammox bacteria under fluctuating oxygen concentrations, was identified in "Ca. Loosdrechtia aerotolerans" and four Ca. Brocadia genomes, and its activity was demonstrated using purified heterologously expressed proteins. A following survey of oxygen-active proteins in anammox bacteria revealed the presence of other previously undetected oxygen defense systems. The novel cbb3-type cytochrome c oxidase and bifunctional catalase-peroxidase may confer a selective advantage to Ca. Kuenenia and Ca. Scalindua that face frequent changes in oxygen concentrations. The discovery of this new genus significantly broadens our understanding of the ecophysiology of anammox bacteria. Furthermore, the diverse oxygen tolerance strategies employed by distinct anammox bacteria advance our understanding of their niche adaptability and provide valuable insight for the operation of anammox-based wastewater treatment systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhongyi Lu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Mohammad Azari
- Department of Aquatic Environmental Engineering, Institute for Water and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Gotthard-Franz-Str. 3, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
| | - Boran Kartal
- Microbial Physiology Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstraße 1, Bremen 28359, Germany
| | - Huan Du
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Mingwei Cai
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Craig W Herbold
- Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Xinghua Ding
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Martin Denecke
- Department of Urban Water- and Waste Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 15, Essen 45141, Germany
| | - Xiaoyan Li
- Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Science and Engineering Research Group, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, People's Republic of China; Southern Laboratory of Ocean Science and Engineering (Guangdong, Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong 519082, People's Republic of China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, People's Republic of China.
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24
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Wang D, Wang Y, Liu L, Chen Y, Wang C, Xu X, Yang Y, Wang Y, Zhang T. Niche differentiation and symbiotic association among ammonia/nitrite oxidizers in a full-scale rotating biological contactor. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 225:119137. [PMID: 36198208 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Although the distribution of ammonia/nitrite oxidizers had been profiled in different habitats, current understanding is still limited regarding their niche differentiation in the integrated biofilm reactors, the symbiotic associations of ammonia/nitrite oxidizers, as well as the parasitic interaction between viruses and those functional organisms involved in the nitrogen cycle. Here, the integrated metagenomics and metatranscriptomics are applied to profile the ammonia/nitrite oxidizers communities and transcriptional activities changes along the flowpath of a concatenated full-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) (frontend Stage-A and backend Stage-B). 19 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of ammonia/nitrite oxidizers were recovered by using a hybrid assembly approach, including four ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), two ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), two complete ammonia oxidation bacteria (comammox), eight nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and three anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (anammox). Diverse AOB and anammox dominated Stage-A and collectively contributed to nitrogen conversion. With the decline of ammonia concentration along the flowpath, comammox and AOA appeared and increased in relative abundance in Stage-B, accounting for 8.8% of the entire community at the end of this reactor, and their dominating role in nitrogen turnover was indicated by the high transcription activity of their corresponding function genes. Moreover, the variation in the abundance of viruses infecting ammonia and nitrite oxidizers suggests that viruses likely act as a biotic factor mediating ammonia/nitrite oxidizer populations. This study demonstrates that complex factors shaped niche differentiation and symbiotic associations of ammonia/nitrite oxidizers in the RBC and highlights the importance of RBCs as model systems for the investigation of biotic and abiotic factors affecting the composition of microbiomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dou Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yulin Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yiqiang Chen
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chunxiao Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaoqing Xu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yu Yang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yubo Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China.
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25
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Wang J, Zheng F, Yu Z, Chen J, Lu H. Dissolved organic nitrogen derived from wastewater denitrification: Composition and nitrogenous disinfection byproduct formation. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 440:129775. [PMID: 35994914 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Microbially derived dissolved organic nitrogen (mDON) is a major fraction of effluent total nitrogen at wastewater treatment plants with enhanced nutrient removal, which stimulates phytoplankton blooms and formation of toxic nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs). This study identified denitrifiers as major contributors to mDON synthesis, and further revealed the molecular composition, influential factors and synthetic microorganisms of denitrification-derived mDON compounds leading to N-DBP formation. The maximum mDON accumulated during denitrification was 8.92% of converted inorganic nitrogen, higher than that of anammox (4.24%) and nitrification (2.76%). Sodium acetate addition at relatively high C/N ratio (5-7) favored mDON formation, compared with methanol and low C/N (1-3). Different from acetate, methanol-facilitated denitrification produced 13-69% more lignin-like compounds than proteins using Orbitrap LC-MS. The most abundant N-DBPs formed from denitrification-derived mDON were N-nitrosodibutylamine and dichloroacetonitrile (13.32 μg/mg mDON and 12.21 μg/mg mDON, respectively). Major amino acids, aspartate, glycine, and alanine were positively correlated with typical N-DBPs. Biosynthesis and degradation pathways of these N-DBP precursors were enriched in denitrifiers belonging to Rhodocyclaceae, Mycobacteriaceae and Hyphomicrobiaceae. As intensive disinfection is applied at worldwide wastewater treatment plants during COVID-19, carbon source facilitated denitrification should be better managed to reduce both effluent inorganic nitrogen and DON, mitigating DON and N-DBP associated ecological risks in receiving waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Wang
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Fang Zheng
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhaoniao Yu
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China
| | - Jinrong Chen
- Zhejiang Fuchun Ziguang Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., 310000 Hangzhou, China
| | - Huijie Lu
- College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China.
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26
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Zhao J, Zheng M, Su Z, Liu T, Li J, Guo J, Yuan Z, Hu S. Selective Enrichment of Comammox Nitrospira in a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor with Sufficient Oxygen Supply. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:13338-13346. [PMID: 36047990 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of comammox (complete ammonia oxidation) Nitrospira has upended the long-held nitrification paradigm. Although comammox Nitrospira have been identified in wastewater treatment systems, the conditions for their dominance over canonical ammonia oxidizers remain unclear. Here, we report the dominance of comammox Nitrospira in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) fed with synthetic mainstream wastewater. Integrated 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and metagenomic sequencing methods demonstrated the selective enrichment of comammox bacteria when the MBBR was operated at a dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration above 6 mg O2/L. The dominance of comammox Nitrospira over canonical ammonia oxidizers (i.e., Nitrosomonas) was attributed to the low residual ammonium concentration (0.02-0.52 mg N/L) formed in the high-DO MBBR. Two clade A comammox Nitrospira were identified, which are phylogenetically close to Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa. Interestingly, cryosectioning-FISH showed these two comammox species spatially distributed on the surface of the biofilm. Moreover, the ammonia-oxidizing activity of comammox Nitrospira-dominated biofilms was susceptible to the oxygen supply, which dropped by half with the DO concentration decrease from 6 to 2 mg O2/L. These features collectively suggest a low apparent oxygen affinity for the comammox Nitrospira-dominated biofilms in the high-DO nitrifying MBBR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhao
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zicheng Su
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jie Li
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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27
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Yang X, Yu X, He Q, Deng T, Guan X, Lian Y, Xu K, Shu L, Wang C, Yan Q, Yang Y, Wu B, He Z. Niche differentiation among comammox (Nitrospira inopinata) and other metabolically distinct nitrifiers. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:956860. [PMID: 36187961 PMCID: PMC9515657 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.956860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to global change, increasing nutrient input to ecosystems dramatically affects the nitrogen cycle, especially the nitrification process. Nitrifiers including ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOBs), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOBs), and recently discovered complete ammonia oxidizers (comammoxs) perform nitrification individually or in a community. However, much remains to be learned about their niche differentiation, coexistence, and interactions among those metabolically distinct nitrifiers. Here, we used synthetic microbial ecology approaches to construct synthetic nitrifying communities (SNCs) with different combinations of Nitrospira inopinata as comammox, Nitrososphaera gargensis as AOA, Nitrosomonas communis as AOB, and Nitrospira moscoviensis as NOB. Our results showed that niche differentiation and potential interactions among those metabolically distinct nitrifiers were determined by their kinetic characteristics. The dominant species shifted from N. inopinata to N. communis in the N4 community (with all four types of nitrifiers) as ammonium concentrations increased, which could be well explained by the kinetic difference in ammonia affinity, specific growth rate, and substrate tolerance of nitrifiers in the SNCs. In addition, a conceptual model was developed to infer niche differentiation and possible interactions among the four types of nitrifiers. This study advances our understanding of niche differentiation and provides new strategies to further study their interactions among the four types of nitrifiers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqin Yang
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoli Yu
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qiang He
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Ting Deng
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaotong Guan
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yingli Lian
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kui Xu
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Longfei Shu
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Cheng Wang
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qingyun Yan
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Bo Wu
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Bo Wu
| | - Zhili He
- Environmental Microbiomics Research Center, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
- Zhili He
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Leung PM, Daebeler A, Chiri E, Hanchapola I, Gillett DL, Schittenhelm RB, Daims H, Greening C. A nitrite-oxidising bacterium constitutively consumes atmospheric hydrogen. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:2213-2219. [PMID: 35752717 PMCID: PMC9381531 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01265-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Chemolithoautotrophic nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB) of the genus Nitrospira contribute to nitrification in diverse natural environments and engineered systems. Nitrospira are thought to be well-adapted to substrate limitation owing to their high affinity for nitrite and capacity to use alternative energy sources. Here, we demonstrate that the canonical nitrite oxidiser Nitrospira moscoviensis oxidises hydrogen (H2) below atmospheric levels using a high-affinity group 2a nickel-iron hydrogenase [Km(app) = 32 nM]. Atmospheric H2 oxidation occurred under both nitrite-replete and nitrite-deplete conditions, suggesting low-potential electrons derived from H2 oxidation promote nitrite-dependent growth and enable survival during nitrite limitation. Proteomic analyses confirmed the hydrogenase was abundant under both conditions and indicated extensive metabolic changes occur to reduce energy expenditure and growth under nitrite-deplete conditions. Thermodynamic modelling revealed that H2 oxidation theoretically generates higher power yield than nitrite oxidation at low substrate concentrations and significantly contributes to growth at elevated nitrite concentrations. Collectively, this study suggests atmospheric H2 oxidation enhances the growth and survival of NOB amid variability of nitrite supply, extends the phenomenon of atmospheric H2 oxidation to an eighth phylum (Nitrospirota), and reveals unexpected new links between the global hydrogen and nitrogen cycles. Long classified as obligate nitrite oxidisers, our findings suggest H2 may primarily support growth and survival of certain NOB in natural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pok Man Leung
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Anne Daebeler
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Soil and Water Research Infrastructure, Biology Centre CAS, Budweis, Czechia.
| | - Eleonora Chiri
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Iresha Hanchapola
- Monash Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility and Department of Biochemistry, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - David L Gillett
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Ralf B Schittenhelm
- Monash Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility and Department of Biochemistry, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Holger Daims
- Division of Microbial Ecology, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- University of Vienna, The Comammox Research Platform, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Chris Greening
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
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He S, Zhao Z, Tian Z, Xu C, Liu Y, He D, Zhang Y, Zheng M. Comammox bacteria predominate among ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in municipal but not in refinery wastewater treatment plants. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 316:115271. [PMID: 35594823 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Comammox bacteria have proved to be one dominant and significant ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), however, it still remains unknown about their abundance and diversity in industrial WWTPs. In this study, activated sludge samples from 8 municipal WWTPs and 6 industrial WWTPs treating refinery wastewater were taken and analyzed using qPCR and amoA gene sequencing. Intriguingly, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) results suggested that comammox bacteria had a higher numerical abundance compared with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in municipal WWTPs but did not in refinery WWTPs. Moreover, comammox amoA sequences obtained from high-throughput sequencing were retrieved from all the 8 municipal samples but only 1 industrial sample. Further phylogenetic analysis revealed that N. nitrosa cluster accounted for as high as 79.56% of the total comammox affiliated sequences, which was the most numerically abundant comammox species in municipal WWTPs. This study provided new insights into the abundance and diversity of comammox bacteria in the biological nitrification process in municipal and refinery wastewater treatment systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shishi He
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhirong Zhao
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhichao Tian
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Chi Xu
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Yuan Liu
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Da He
- Key Laboratory of Ecological Impacts of Hydraulic Projects and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystem of Ministry of Water Resources, Institute of Hydroecology, Ministry of Water Resources & Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Yinghui Zhang
- Guangxi Huantou Water Group Co. LTD, Nanning, 530015, China
| | - Maosheng Zheng
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China.
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30
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Zhu G, Wang X, Wang S, Yu L, Armanbek G, Yu J, Jiang L, Yuan D, Guo Z, Zhang H, Zheng L, Schwark L, Jetten MSM, Yadav AK, Zhu YG. Towards a more labor-saving way in microbial ammonium oxidation: A review on complete ammonia oxidization (comammox). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 829:154590. [PMID: 35306060 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In the Anthropocene, nitrogen pollution is becoming an increasing challenge for both mankind and the Earth system. Microbial nitrogen cycling begins with aerobic nitrification, which is also the key rate-limiting step. For over a century, it has been accepted that nitrification occurs sequentially involving ammonia oxidation, which produces nitrite followed by nitrite oxidation, generating nitrate. This perception was changed by the discovery of comammox Nitrospira bacteria and their metabolic pathway. In addition, this also provided us with new knowledge concerning the complex nitrogen cycle network. In the comammox process, ammonia can be completely oxidized to nitrate in one cell via the subsequent activity of the enzyme complexes, ammonia monooxygenase, hydroxylamine dehydrogenase, and nitrite oxidodreductase. Over the past five years, research on comammox made great progress. However, there still exist a lot of questions, including how much does comammox contribute to nitrification? How large is the diversity and are there new strains to be discovered? Do comammox bacteria produce the greenhouse gas N2O, and how or to which extent may they contribute to global climate change? The above four aspects are of great significance on the farmland nitrogen management, aquatic environment restoration, and mitigation of global climate change. As large number of comammox bacteria and pathways have been detected in various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, indicating that the comammox process may exert an important role in the global nitrogen cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guibing Zhu
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Xiaomin Wang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shanyun Wang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Longbin Yu
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Gawhar Armanbek
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Jie Yu
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Liping Jiang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dongdan Yuan
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Zhongrui Guo
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Hanrui Zhang
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Lei Zheng
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Lorenz Schwark
- Institute for Geosciences, University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, 36525 AJ Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Asheesh Kumar Yadav
- Department of Environment and Sustainability, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar 751013, India
| | - Yong-Guan Zhu
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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31
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Lin Z, Ma K, Yang Y. Nitrous Oxide Emission from Full-Scale Anammox-Driven Wastewater Treatment Systems. LIFE (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:life12070971. [PMID: 35888061 PMCID: PMC9317218 DOI: 10.3390/life12070971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are important contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, partly due to their huge emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), which has a global warming potential of 298 CO2 equivalents. Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria provide a shortcut in the nitrogen removal pathway by directly transforming ammonium and nitrite to nitrogen gas (N2). Due to its energy efficiency, the anammox-driven treatment has been applied worldwide for the removal of inorganic nitrogen from ammonium-rich wastewater. Although direct evidence of the metabolic production of N2O by anammox bacteria is lacking, the microorganisms coexisting in anammox-driven WWTPs could produce a considerable amount of N2O and hence affect the sustainability of wastewater treatment. Thus, N2O emission is still one of the downsides of anammox-driven wastewater treatment, and efforts are required to understand the mechanisms of N2O emission from anammox-driven WWTPs using different nitrogen removal strategies and develop effective mitigation strategies. Here, three main N2O production processes, namely, hydroxylamine oxidation, nitrifier denitrification, and heterotrophic denitrification, and the unique N2O consumption process termed nosZ-dominated N2O degradation, occurring in anammox-driven wastewater treatment systems, are summarized and discussed. The key factors influencing N2O emission and mitigation strategies are discussed in detail, and areas in which further research is urgently required are identified.
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32
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Shi LD, Dong X, Liu Z, Yang Y, Lin JG, Li M, Gu JD, Zhu LZ, Zhao HP. A mixed blessing of viruses in wastewater treatment plants. WATER RESEARCH 2022; 215:118237. [PMID: 35245718 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Activated sludge of wastewater treatment plants harbors a very high diversity of both microorganisms and viruses, wherein the latter control microbial dynamics and metabolisms by infection and lysis of cells. However, it remains poorly understood how viruses impact the biochemical processes of activated sludge, for example in terms of treatment efficiency and pollutant removal. Using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic deep sequencing, the present study recovered thousands of viral sequences from activated sludge samples of three conventional wastewater treatment plants. Gene-sharing network indicated that most of viruses could not be assigned to known viral genera, implying activated sludge as an underexplored reservoir for new viruses and viral diversity. In silico predictions of virus-host linkages demonstrated that infected microbial hosts, mostly belonging to bacteria, were transcriptionally active and able to hydrolyze polymers including starches, celluloses, and proteins. Some viruses encode auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) involved in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) for resistance to multiple drugs. The virus-encoded AMGs may enhance the biodegradation of contaminants like starches and celluloses, suggesting a positive role for viruses in strengthening the performance of activated sludge. However, ARGs would be disseminated to different microorganisms using viruses as gene shuttles, demonstrating the possibility for viruses to facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment. Collectively, this study highlights the mixed blessing of viruses in wastewater treatment plants, and deciphers how they manipulate the biochemical processes in the activated sludge, with implications for both environmental protection and ecosystem security.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling-Dong Shi
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xiyang Dong
- School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, China
| | - Zongbao Liu
- Archaeal Biology Center, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Jih-Gaw Lin
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
| | - Meng Li
- Archaeal Biology Center, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Science and Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China
| | - Li-Zhong Zhu
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - He-Ping Zhao
- MOE Key Lab of Environmental Remediation and Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
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Al-Ajeel S, Spasov E, Sauder LA, McKnight MM, Neufeld JD. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea and complete ammonia-oxidizing Nitrospira in water treatment systems. WATER RESEARCH X 2022; 15:100131. [PMID: 35402889 PMCID: PMC8990171 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2022.100131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite, is important for many engineered water treatment systems. The sequential steps of this respiratory process are carried out by distinct microbial guilds, including ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and newly discovered members of the genus Nitrospira that conduct complete ammonia oxidation (comammox). Even though all of these nitrifiers have been identified within water treatment systems, their relative contributions to nitrogen cycling are poorly understood. Although AOA contribute to nitrification in many wastewater treatment plants, they are generally outnumbered by AOB. In contrast, AOA and comammox Nitrospira typically dominate relatively low ammonia environments such as drinking water treatment, tertiary wastewater treatment systems, and aquaculture/aquarium filtration. Studies that focus on the abundance of ammonia oxidizers may misconstrue the actual role that distinct nitrifying guilds play in a system. Understanding which ammonia oxidizers are active is useful for further optimization of engineered systems that rely on nitrifiers for ammonia removal. This review highlights known distributions of AOA and comammox Nitrospira in engineered water treatment systems and suggests future research directions that will help assess their contributions to nitrification and identify factors that influence their distributions and activity.
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Biessy L, Pearman JK, Waters S, Vandergoes MJ, Wood SA. Metagenomic insights to the functional potential of sediment microbial communities in freshwater lakes. METABARCODING AND METAGENOMICS 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/mbmg.6.79265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular-based techniques offer considerable potential to provide new insights into the impact of anthropogenic stressors on lake ecosystems. Microbial communities are involved in many geochemical cycling processes in lakes and a greater understanding of their functions could assist in guiding more targeted remedial actions. Recent advances in metagenomics now make it possible to determine the functional potential of entire microbial communities. The present study investigated microbial communities and their functional potential in surface sediments collected from three lakes with differing trophic states and characteristics. Surface sediments were analysed for their nutrient and elemental contents and metagenomics and metabarcoding analysis undertaken. The nutrients content of the surface sediments did not show as distinct a gradient as water chemistry monitoring data, likely reflecting effects of other lake characteristics, in particular, depth. Metabarcoding and metagenomics revealed differing bacterial community composition and functional potential amongst lakes. Amongst the differentially abundant metabolic pathways, the most prominent were clusters in the energy and xenobiotics pathways. Differences in the energy metabolism paths of photosynthesis and oxidative phosphorylation were observed. These were most likely related to changes in the community composition and especially the presence of cyanobacteria in two of the three lakes. Xenobiotic pathways, such as those involving polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, were highest in the lakes with the greatest agricultural land-use in their catchment. These results highlight how microbial metagenomics can be used to gain insights into the causes of differences in trophic status amongst lakes.
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35
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Vilardi KJ, Cotto I, Rivera MS, Dai Z, Anderson CL, Pinto A. Comammox Nitrospira bacteria outnumber canonical nitrifiers irrespective of electron donor mode and availability in biofiltration systems. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6553816. [PMID: 35325104 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria coexist with canonical ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria in a wide range of environments. Whether this is due to competitive or cooperative interactions, or a result of niche separation is not yet clear. Understanding the factors driving coexistence of nitrifiers is critical to manage nitrification processes occurring in engineered and natural ecosystems. In this study, microcosm-based experiments were used to investigate the impact of nitrogen source and loading on the population dynamics of nitrifiers in drinking water biofilter media. Shotgun sequencing of DNA followed by co-assembly and reconstruction of metagenome assembled genomes revealed clade A2 comammox bacteria were likely the primary nitrifiers within microcosms and increased in abundance over Nitrsomonas-like ammonia and Nitrospira-like nitrite oxidizing bacteria irrespective of nitrogen source type or loading. Changes in comammox bacterial abundance did not correlate with either ammonia or nitrite oxidizing bacterial abundance in urea amended systems where metabolic reconstruction indicated potential for cross feeding between ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria. In contrast, comammox bacterial abundance demonstrated a negative correlation with nitrite oxidizers in ammonia amended systems. This suggests potentially weaker synergistic relationships between ammonia and nitrite oxidizers might enable comammox bacteria to displace nitrite oxidizers from complex nitrifying communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine J Vilardi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, MA, MA, USA
| | - Irmarie Cotto
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, MA, MA, USA
| | | | - Zihan Dai
- Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | | | - Ameet Pinto
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
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36
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Xu S, Chai W, Xiao R, Smets BF, Palomo A, Lu H. Survival strategy of comammox bacteria in a wastewater nutrient removal system with sludge fermentation liquid as additional carbon source. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 802:149862. [PMID: 34461473 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizing (comammox) bacteria are frequently detected in wastewater biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems. This study identified "Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa"-like comammox bacteria as the predominant ammonia oxidizers (97.5-99.4%) in a lab-scale BNR system with acetate and sludge fermentation liquid as external carbon sources. The total nitrogen and phosphorus removals of the system were 75.9% and 86.9% with minimal N2O emission (0.27%). Low ammonia concentration, mixotrophic growth potentials and metabolic interactions with diverse heterotrophs collectively contributed to the survival of comammox bacteria in the system. The recovered draft genomes of comammox bacteria indicated their potentials in using acetate and propionate but not butyrate. Acetate and propionate indeed stimulated the transcription of comammox amoA genes (up-regulated by 4.1 folds compared with no organic addition), which was positively correlated with the ammonia oxidation rate of the community (r = 0.75, p < 0.05). Comammox bacteria could provide vitamins/cofactors (e.g., cobalamin and biotin) to heterotrophs (e.g., Burkholderiaceae), and in return receive amino acids (e.g., phenylalanine and tyrosine) from heterotrophs, which they cannot synthesize. Compared with comammox bacteria, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) exhibited lower metabolic versatility, and lacked more pathways for the synthesis of amino acids and vitamin/cofactors, leading to their washout in the studied system. BNRs with comammox bacteria as the major nitrifiers hold great potentials in achieving superior performance at low aeration cost and low N2O emission and at full-scale plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoyi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wenbo Chai
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Rui Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Barth F Smets
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Alejandro Palomo
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Denmark; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Huijie Lu
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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Zhao M, Tang X, Sun D, Hou L, Liu M, Zhao Q, Klümper U, Quan Z, Gu JD, Han P. Salinity gradients shape the nitrifier community composition in Nanliu River Estuary sediments and the ecophysiology of comammox Nitrospira inopinata. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 795:148768. [PMID: 34247082 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which convert ammonia to nitrate in a single organism, revolutionized the conventional understanding that two types of nitrifying microorganisms have to be involved in the nitrification process for more than 100 years. However, how different types of nitrifiers in response to salinity change remains largely unclear. This study not only investigated nitrifier community (including ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), comammox and nitrite-oxidizing Nitrospira) in the Nanliu estuary to find the ecological relationship between salinity and functional communities and also studied the physiology of a typical comammox Nitrospira inopinata in response to a salinity gradient. Based on sequences retrieved with four sets of functional gene primes, comammox Nitrospira was in general, mainly composed of clade A, with a clear separation of clade A1 subgroup in all samples and clade A2 subgroup in low salinity ones. As expected, group I.1b and group I.1a AOA dominated the AOA community in low- and high-salinity samples, respectively. Nitrosomonas-AOB were detected in all samples while Nitrosospira-AOB were mainly found in relatively high-salinity samples. Regarding general Nitrospira, lineages II and IV were the major groups in most of the samples, while lineage I Nitrospira was only detected in low-salinity samples. Furthermore, the comammox pure culture of N. inopinata showed an optimal salinity at 0.5‰ and ceased to grow at 12.8‰ for ammonia oxidation, but remained active for nitrite oxidation. These results show new evidence regarding niche specificity of different nitrifying microorganisms modulated mainly by salinity, and also a clear response by comammox N. inopinata to a wide range of simulated salinity levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyue Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Xiufeng Tang
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Dongyao Sun
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Lijun Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Min Liu
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Qiang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Uli Klümper
- Institute for Hydrobiology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
| | - Zhexue Quan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China
| | - Ping Han
- Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China.
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Yang Y, Azari M, Herbold CW, Li M, Chen H, Ding X, Denecke M, Gu JD. Activities and metabolic versatility of distinct anammox bacteria in a full-scale wastewater treatment system. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 206:117763. [PMID: 34700143 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a key N2-producing process in the global nitrogen cycle. Major progress in understanding the core mechanism of anammox bacteria has been made, but our knowledge of the survival strategies of anammox bacteria in complex ecosystems, such as full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), remains limited. Here, by combining metagenomics with in situ metatranscriptomics, complex anammox-driven nitrogen cycles in an anoxic tank and a granular activated carbon (GAC) biofilm module of a full-scale WWTP treating landfill leachate were constructed. Four distinct anammox metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), representing a new genus named Ca. Loosdrechtii, a new species in Ca. Kuenenia, a new species in Ca. Brocadia, and a new strain in "Ca. Kuenenia stuttgartiensis", were simultaneously retrieved from the GAC biofilm. Metabolic reconstruction revealed that all anammox organisms highly expressed the core metabolic enzymes and showed a high metabolic versatility. Pathways for dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) coupled to volatile fatty acids (VFAs) oxidation likely assist anammox bacteria to survive unfavorable conditions and facilitate switches between lifestyles in oxygen fluctuating environments. The new Ca. Kuenenia species dominated the anammox community of the GAC biofilm, specifically may be enhanced by the uniquely encoded flexible ammonium and iron acquisition strategies. The new Ca. Brocadia species likely has an extensive niche distribution that is simultaneously established in the anoxic tank and the GAC biofilm, the two distinct niches. The highly diverse and impressive metabolic versatility of anammox bacteria revealed in this study advance our understanding of the survival and application of anammox bacteria in the full-scale wastewater treatment system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Mohammad Azari
- Department of Urban Water- and Waste Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 15, Essen 45141, Germany; Department of Aquatic Environmental Engineering, Institute for Water and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Gotthard-Franz-Str. 3, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
| | - Craig W Herbold
- Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1090, Austria
| | - Meng Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, People's Republic of China
| | - Huaihai Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinghua Ding
- Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Martin Denecke
- Department of Urban Water- and Waste Management, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 15, Essen 45141, Germany
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Science and Engineering Research Group, Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, The People's Republic of China; Southern Laboratory of Ocean Science and Engineering (Guangdong, Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong, The People's Republic of China.
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Zhou X, Li B, Wei J, Ye Y, Xu J, Chen L, Lu C. Temperature Influenced the Comammox Community Composition in Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2021; 82:870-884. [PMID: 33665721 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-021-01724-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification is a pivotal step applied in water engineered systems for nitrogen removal. Temperature variation due to seasonal changes is a great challenge for maintaining nitrogen removal efficiency in water engineered ecosystems by affecting nitrifier activities. Research on the abundance, activity, and metabolic characteristics of nitrifiers can provide information for selecting suitable design parameters to ensure efficient nitrogen removal in different seasons. To date, the temperature-related niche separation of comammox, a newly discovered nitrifier with potential high-growth yield, has been rarely investigated. This study addressed the distribution of comammox and canonical nitrifying guilds in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in different seasons. qPCR-based surveys showed that comammox ubiquitously distributed and greatly outnumbered other ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes in both DWTPs and WWTPs, except in Aug samples from DWTPs, suggesting the potential competitive advantage of AOA in summer. The nitrificans-like comammox and nitrosa-like comammox comprised the majority of the comammox community in DWTPs and WWTPs, respectively, and COD and NH4+ concentrations significantly contributed to the distinct comammox phylotype distribution between DWTPs and WWTPs. The temperature-related distribution pattern of the comammox community was observed at each site. Moreover, the network complex of comammox communities was highest in Dec at all the sites, possibly contributing to the survival of comammox community in low temperature conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Zhou
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Bolun Li
- School of Geographic Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Jun Wei
- Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, Hangzhou, 311122, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yu Ye
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Junzeng Xu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Lina Chen
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Chunhui Lu
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China.
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China.
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Gottshall EY, Bryson SJ, Cogert KI, Landreau M, Sedlacek CJ, Stahl DA, Daims H, Winkler M. Sustained nitrogen loss in a symbiotic association of Comammox Nitrospira and Anammox bacteria. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 202:117426. [PMID: 34274897 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The discovery of anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (Anammox) and, more recently, aerobic bacteria common in many natural and engineered systems that oxidize ammonia completely to nitrate (Comammox) have significantly altered our understanding of the global nitrogen cycle. A high affinity for ammonia (Km(app),NH3 ≈ 63nM) and oxygen place Comammox Nitrospira inopinata, the first described isolate, in the same trophic category as organisms such as some ammonia-oxidizing archaea. However, N. inopinata has a relatively low affinity for nitrite (Km,NO2 ≈ 449.2μM) suggesting it would be less competitive for nitrite than other nitrite-consuming aerobes and anaerobes. We examined the ecological relevance of the disparate substrate affinities by coupling it with the Anammox bacterium Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans. Synthetic communities of the two were established in hydrogel granules in which Comammox grew in the aerobic outer layer to provide Anammox with nitrite in the inner anoxic core to form dinitrogen gas. This spatial organization was confirmed with FISH imaging, supporting a mutualistic or commensal relationship. The functional significance of interspecies spatial organization was informed by the hydrogel encapsulation format, broadening our limited understanding of the interplay between these two species. The resulting low nitrate formation and the competitiveness of Comammox over other aerobic ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizers sets this ecological cooperation apart and points to potential biotechnological applications. Since nitrate is an undesirable product of wastewater treatment effluents, the Comammox-Anammox symbiosis may be of economic and ecological importance to reduce nitrogen contamination of receiving waters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina Y Gottshall
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States.
| | - Sam J Bryson
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States
| | - Kathryn I Cogert
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States
| | - Matthieu Landreau
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States
| | - Christopher J Sedlacek
- Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - David A Stahl
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States
| | - Holger Daims
- Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, 1010, Austria; The Comammox Research Platform. University of Vienna, 1010, Austria
| | - Mari Winkler
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98165, United States
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41
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Activity-Based Cell Sorting Reveals Resistance of Functionally Degenerate Nitrospira during a Press Disturbance in Nitrifying Activated Sludge. mSystems 2021; 6:e0071221. [PMID: 34282936 PMCID: PMC8407113 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00712-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Managing and engineering activated sludge wastewater treatment microbiomes for low-energy nitrogen removal requires process control strategies to stop the oxidation of ammonium at nitrite. Our ability to out-select nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) from activated sludge is challenged by their metabolic and physiological diversity, warranting measurements of their in situ physiology and activity under selective growth pressures. Here, we examined the stability of nitrite oxidation in activated sludge during a press disturbance induced by treating a portion of return activated sludge with a sidestream flow containing free ammonia (FA) at 200 mg NH3-N/liter. The nitrite accumulation ratio peaked at 42% by day 40 in the experimental bioreactor with the press disturbance, while it did not increase in the control bioreactor. A subsequent decrease in nitrite accumulation within the experimental bioreactor coincided with shifts in dominant Nitrospira 16S rRNA amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). We applied bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) coupled with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to investigate changes in the translational activity of NOB populations throughout batch exposure to FA. BONCAT-FACS confirmed that the single Nitrospira ASV washed out of the experimental bioreactor had reduced translational activity following exposure to FA, whereas the two Nitrospira ASVs that emerged after process acclimation were not impacted by FA. Thus, the coexistence of functionally degenerate and physiologically resistant Nitrospira populations provided resilience to the nitrite-oxidizing function during the press disturbance. These results highlight how BONCAT-FACS can resolve ecological niche differentiation within activated sludge and inform strategies to engineer and control microbiome function. IMPORTANCE Nitrogen removal from activated sludge wastewater treatment systems is an energy-intensive process due to the large aeration requirement for nitrification. This energy footprint could be minimized with engineering control strategies that wash out nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) to limit oxygen demands. However, NOB populations can have a high degree of physiological diversity, and it is currently difficult to decipher the behavior of individual taxa during applied selective pressures. Here, we utilized a new substrate analog probing approach to measure the activity of NOB at the cellular translational level in the face of a press disturbance applied to the activated sludge process. Substrate analog probing corroborated the time series reactor sampling, showing that coexisting and functionally degenerate Nitrospira populations provided resilience to the nitrite oxidation process. Taken together, these results highlight how substrate analog approaches can illuminate in situ ecophysiologies within shared niches, and can inform strategies to improve microbiome engineering and management.
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42
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Ayre JM, Mickan BS, Jenkins SN, Moheimani NR. Batch cultivation of microalgae in anaerobic digestate exhibits functional changes in bacterial communities impacting nitrogen removal and wastewater treatment. ALGAL RES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2021.102338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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43
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Wang Y, Zhao R, Liu L, Li B, Zhang T. Selective enrichment of comammox from activated sludge using antibiotics. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 197:117087. [PMID: 33819658 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
While the ubiquitous presence of comammox in engineered systems provides the foundation of developing a novel biological nitrogen removal process, factors contributing to the comammox dynamics in engineered systems have not been well resolved. Here, we investigate the long-term effects of ten different antibiotics on microbial community dynamics in activated sludge and the results show that both types and concentrations of antibiotics affect the taxonomic composition of nitrifiers, including comammox, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, and canonical nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Specifically, phylogenetically different comammox Nitrospira were selectively enriched by four types of antibiotics (i.e., ampicillin, kanamycin, lincomycin, and trimethoprim). Comparative genomic analysis of the four newly identified comammox clade A Nitrospira revealed that the comammox enriched by antibiotics shared the conserved key metabolic potentials, such as carbon fixation, complete ammonia oxidation, and utilization of hydrogen as alternative electron donors, among the known comammox organisms. Comammox strains enriched in this study also encoded genes involved in formate and cyanate metabolism that were recently reported in comammox clade A organisms from wastewater treatment systems. Our findings highlight that the comammox in activated sludge ecosystems possess high metabolic versatility than previously recognized and could be selectively enriched by some antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Renxin Zhao
- Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Lei Liu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Bing Li
- Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Urban Water Recycling and Environmental Safety, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
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44
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Zhao X, Jiang J, Zhou Z, Zheng Y, Shao Y, Zuo Y, Ren Y, An Y. Responses of microbial structures, functions and metabolic pathways for nitrogen removal to different hydraulic retention times in anaerobic side-stream reactor coupled membrane bioreactors. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2021; 329:124903. [PMID: 33662853 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Synchronous sludge reduction and nitrogen removal have attracted increasing attention, while the underlying mechanisms of diverse nitrogen metabolism within the complicated processes remain unclear. Four anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactors, three of which were upgraded by anaerobic side-stream reactors (ASSR) and carriers (APSSR-MBRs), were operated to determine effects of hydraulic retention time of ASSRs. APSSR-MBRs achieved more significant nitrogen removal and higher nitrate uptake rate because of more denitrifying bacteria and the supernumerary release of secondary substrates. Ammonia uptake rate showed the diverse Nitrospira preceded over anaerobic decay and sulfide inhibition in the ASSR, and made the reactor exhibit higher nitrification capacity. Metagenomic analysis indicated that APSSR-MBRs showed higher abundances of genes related to nitrogen consumption processes, and higher abundances on the carriers, confirming their pivotal roles in nitrogen metabolism. This study provided novel perspectives to build a bridge between process model and nitrogen metabolism in the sludge reduction system..
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodan Zhao
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Jie Jiang
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Zhen Zhou
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, 200092, China.
| | - Yue Zheng
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yanjun Shao
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yi Zuo
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yuqing Ren
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Ying An
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Energy - Saving in Heat Exchange Systems, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
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45
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Wang DQ, Zhou CH, Nie M, Gu JD, Quan ZX. Abundance and niche specificity of different types of complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) in salt marshes covered by different plants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 768:144993. [PMID: 33736320 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The recently discovered complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which are ubiquitous in various natural and artificial ecosystems, have led to a paradigm shift in our understanding of aerobic nitrification. The coastal salt marsh covered by various plant species is an important ecosystem to link nitrogen cycles of terrestrial and marine environments; however, the distribution and structure of comammox in such ecosystems have not been clearly investigated. Here, we applied quantitative PCR and partial nested-PCR to investigate the abundance and community composition of comammox in salt marsh sediment samples covered by three plant types along the southern coastline of China. Our results showed a predominance of comammox clade A in majority of the samples, suggesting their ubiquity and the important role they play in nitrification in salt marsh ecosystems. However, variations by the sites were found when comparing the abundance of subclades of comammox clade A. Redundancy analysis demonstrated a coexistence pattern by comammox clade A.1 with ammonia-oxidizing archaea and comammox clade A.2 with canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, indicating their differences in potential niche preference. However, the abundance of comammox clade B was lower than that of comammox clade A and other ammonia oxidizers in most samples. Moreover, pH and salinity were found to be the most significant factors affecting comammox community structures, suggesting their roles in driving niche partitioning of comammox, whereas plant types did not show a significant effect on the comammox community structure. Our study provided insights into the abundance, community diversity, and niche partitions of comammox, broadening the current understanding of the relationship of comammox with other ammonia oxidizers in salt marsh ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan-Qi Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Chen-Hao Zhou
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming Nie
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhe-Xue Quan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China.
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46
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Yang Y, Herbold CW, Jung MY, Qin W, Cai M, Du H, Lin JG, Li X, Li M, Gu JD. Survival strategies of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in a full-scale WWTP treating mixed landfill leachate containing copper ions and operating at low-intensity of aeration. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 191:116798. [PMID: 33444853 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) may play an important role in nitrogen removal by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, our knowledge of the mechanisms employed by AOA for growth and survival in full-scale WWTPs is still limited. Here, metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses combined with a laboratory cultivation experiment revealed that three active AOAs (WS9, WS192, and WS208) belonging to family Nitrososphaeraceae were active in the deep oxidation ditch (DOD) of a full-scale WWTP treating landfill leachate, which is configured with three continuous aerobic-anoxic (OA) modules with low-intensity aeration (≤ 1.5 mg/L). AOA coexisted with AOB and complete ammonia oxidizers (Comammox), while the ammonia-oxidizing microbial (AOM) community was unexpectedly dominated by the novel AOA strain WS9. The low aeration, long retention time, and relatively high inputs of ammonium and copper might be responsible for the survival of AOA over AOB and Comammox, while the dominance of WS9, specifically may be enhanced by substrate preference and uniquely encoded retention strategies. The urease-negative WS9 is specifically adapted for ammonia acquisition as evidenced by the high expression of an ammonium transporter, whereas two metabolically versatile urease-positive AOA strains (WS192 and WS208) can likely supplement ammonia needs with urea. This study provides important information for the survival and application of the eutrophic Nitrososphaeraceae AOA and advances our understanding of archaea-dominated ammonia oxidation in a full-scale wastewater treatment system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Craig W Herbold
- University of Vienna, Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Man-Young Jung
- Division of Biology Education, Department of Science Education, Jeju National University, 102 Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju 63243, South Korea; Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme in Advance Convergence Technology and Science, Faculty of Science Education, Jeju National University, Jeju 6324, South Korea
| | - Wei Qin
- School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States; Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Mingwei Cai
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Huan Du
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Jih-Gaw Lin
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
| | - Xiaoyan Li
- Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
| | - Meng Li
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China; Southern Laboratory of Ocean Science and Engineering, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
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Zhao Y, Hu J, Yang W, Wang J, Jia Z, Zheng P, Hu B. The long-term effects of using nitrite and urea on the enrichment of comammox bacteria. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 755:142580. [PMID: 33059137 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The discovery of complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) was a breakthrough in the study of nitrification. However, slow growth of comammox bacteria makes it challenging to distinguish them from traditional ammonia oxidizing microorganisms. Genomic data indicated that comammox bacteria encoded genes that can metabolize urea and had higher nitrite tolerance, which could only be found in several ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). This implies that using nitrite and urea as nitrogen sources may accelerate comammox bacteria's enrichment efficiency. In this study, two reactors using nitrite and urea as substrates, respectively, were operated for 390 days. At the end of cultivation, the reactor fed with urea exhibited higher nitrification potential than the reactor fed with nitrite. Comammox bacteria outcompeted AOA and AOB, regardless of whether they were cultured with nitrite or urea. Using nitrite can improve the proportion of comammox amoA to total amoA of 92%, while using urea may increase the proportion of comammox bacteria among total bacteria to 14.2%. Metagenomic results implied that nitrite was converted to ammonia by nitrate reduction and absorbed by comammox bacteria. On the other hand, urea may be directly utilized as substrate. These results demonstrated that using different nitrogen sources caused niche differentiation of comammox bacteria, AOA, and AOB. Using nitrite can increase the relative abundance of comammox amoA to total amoA, while using urea can increase the quantity of comammox amoA. Comammox bacteria were dominant among ammonia oxidizing microorganisms for both nitrite and urea cultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxiang Zhao
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiajie Hu
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weiling Yang
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiaqi Wang
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhongjun Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Ping Zheng
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety, Hangzhou, China
| | - Baolan Hu
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory for Water Pollution Control and Environmental Safety, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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48
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Shao YH, Wu JH. Comammox Nitrospira Species Dominate in an Efficient Partial Nitrification-Anammox Bioreactor for Treating Ammonium at Low Loadings. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:2087-2098. [PMID: 33440936 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c05777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Bacteria capable of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) are widespread and contribute to nitrification in wastewater treatment facilities. However, their roles in partial nitrification-anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) systems remain unclear. In this study, a bench-scale bioreactor with continuous stirring was operated for more than 1000 days with limited oxygen supply to achieve efficient nitrogen removal (70.1 ± 2.7%) at a low ammonium loading of 35.2 mg-N/L/day. High-throughput amplicon sequencing analysis of the comammox ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene revealed seven sequence types from two clusters in clade A of comammox Nitrospira. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses suggested that the comammox species dominated the ammonia-oxidizing community, with an abundance as high as 89.2 ± 7.9% in total prokaryotic amoA copies. Multiple linear regression further revealed the substantial contribution of the comammox Nitrospira to ammonia oxidation in the bioreactor. The investigation with bioreactor and batch experiments consistently showed that activities of comammox Nitrospira were inhibited by free ammonia far more severely than other ammonia-oxidizing microbes. Overall, this study provided new insight into the ecology of comammox Nitrospira under hypoxic conditions and suggested comammox-associated partial nitrification-anammox as a potential method for treating low-strength ammonium-containing wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yung-Hsien Shao
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Jer-Horng Wu
- Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
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González-Cabaleiro R, Martinez-Rabert E, Argiz L, van Kessel MA, Smith CJ. A framework based on fundamental biochemical principles to engineer microbial community dynamics. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2021; 67:111-118. [PMID: 33540361 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Microbial communities are complex but there are basic principles we can apply to constrain the assumed stochasticity of their activity. By understanding the trade-offs behind the kinetic parameters that define microbial growth, we can explain how local interspecies dependencies arise and shape the emerging properties of a community. If we integrate these theoretical descriptions with experimental 'omics' data and bioenergetics analysis of specific environmental conditions, predictions on activity, assembly and spatial structure can be obtained reducing the a priori unpredictable complexity of microbial communities. This information can be used to define the appropriate selective pressures to engineer bioprocesses and propose new hypotheses which can drive experimental research to accelerate innovation in biotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeca González-Cabaleiro
- James Watt School of Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, University of Glasgow, Rankine Building, Glasgow, G12 8LT, UK.
| | - Eloi Martinez-Rabert
- James Watt School of Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, University of Glasgow, Rankine Building, Glasgow, G12 8LT, UK
| | - Lucia Argiz
- CRETUS Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
| | - Maartje Ahj van Kessel
- Radboud University, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Cindy J Smith
- James Watt School of Engineering, Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, University of Glasgow, Rankine Building, Glasgow, G12 8LT, UK
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50
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Liu X, Wang Y, Gu JD. Ecological distribution and potential roles of Woesearchaeota in anaerobic biogeochemical cycling unveiled by genomic analysis. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:794-800. [PMID: 33552450 PMCID: PMC7844129 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Woesearchaeota as a newly established member of the superphylum DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota and Nanohaloarchaea) are surprisingly abundant and diverse in a wide variety of environments, including deep oil reservoir, sulfuric springs and anoxic aquifers, indicating a high diversity of their roles in global biogeochemical cycles. However, ecological functions of them remain elusive. To fill up this gap, we analyzed and compared the global distribution patterns of Woesearchaeota using the genomes available publicly. As a result, both ecological distribution patterns and metabolic predictions support a key role of woesearchaeotal lineages in cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Multivariate regression analysis reveals that Woesearchaeota might function in consortium with methanogens in the cycling of carbon in anaerobic environments, particularly in soils or sediments. Moreover, comparative genomic analysis and ecological distribution suggest the potential roles of Woesearchaeota in the processes of denitrification, nitrogen fixation, and dissimilatory nitrite reduction, especially in the wastewater treatment systems; and also uncovered the potential capability of sulfate reduction, sulfide oxidation and thiosulfate oxidation in sulfuric or sulfidic-rich environments. Our findings add more information into the ecological roles of archaea in the anoxic environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobo Liu
- Environmental Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), 241 Daxue Road, Shantou 515063, Guangdong, China
| | - Yali Wang
- Conservation Center, Guangdong Museum, 2 Zhujiang East Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China
| | - Ji-Dong Gu
- Environmental Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), 241 Daxue Road, Shantou 515063, Guangdong, China
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