Microbial Community Profiles in Wastewaters from Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Technology

The aim of the study was to determine the potential of community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs) methodology as an assay for characterization of the metabolic diversity of wastewater samples and to link the metabolic diversity patterns to efficiency of select onsite biological wastewater facilities. Metabolic fingerprints obtained from the selected samples were used to understand functional diversity implied by the carbon substrate shifts. Three different biological facilities of onsite wastewater treatment were evaluated: fixed bed reactor (technology A), trickling filter/biofilter system (technology B), and aerated filter system (the fluidized bed reactor, technology C). High similarities of the microbial community functional structures were found among the samples from the three onsite wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as shown by the diversity indices. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that the diversity and CLPPs of microbial communities depended on the working efficiency of the wastewater treatment technologies. This study provided an overall picture of microbial community functional structures of investigated samples in WWTPs and discerned the linkages between microbial communities and technologies of onsite WWTPs used. The results obtained confirmed that metabolic profiles could be used to monitor treatment processes as valuable biological indicators of onsite wastewater treatment technologies efficiency. This is the first step toward understanding relations of technology types with microbial community patterns in raw and treated wastewaters.

Dynamics of effluent treatment plant during commissioning of activated sludge process unit

Industrial effluent treatment plants (ETPs) are very important in protecting the environment and different life forms from harmful industrial waste. Hence, the efficiency of ETPs must be regularly monitored, particularly after major repair or replacement work. Present study evaluated the performance of an ETP over a period of 4 months, during which aeration tank (T1) of the activated sludge unit was replaced with a new one (T2). System had to be maintained operational during this transition, which warranted close monitoring of the system performance due to the daily load of hazardous industrial wastewater. Analysis showed that the raw wastewater was highly variable in composition and contained many hazardous organic and inorganic pollutants, such as heavy metals, bisphenol A and cyanoacetylurea. It showed significant toxicity against HepG2 cells in vitro. However, the ETP was found to successfully treat and detoxify the wastewater. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis showed large temporal fluctuations in the ETP microbial community, which is consistent with the variable composition of wastewater. It indicated that functional stability of the ETP was not associated with stability of the microbial community, probably due to high microbial biodiversity and consequently high functional redundancy. In conclusion, the CETP showed consistent level of detoxification and microbial community dynamics after switching to T2, indicating successful development, acclimatization and commissioning of T2.

Community level physiological profiles of bacterial communities inhabiting uranium mining impacted sites

Bacterial activity and physiological diversity were characterized in mining and milling impacted soils collected from three abandoned uranium mine sites, Senokos, Buhovo and Sliven, using bacterial dehydrogenase activity and Biolog (EcoPlate) tests. The elemental composition of soils revealed high levels of uranium and heavy metals (sum of technogenic coefficients of contamination; TCC(sum) pollution as follows: Sliven (uranium - 374 mg/kg; TCC(sum) - 23.40) >Buhovo (uranium - 139.20mg/kg; TCC(sum) - 3.93) >Senokos (uranium - 23.01 mg/kg; TCC(sum) - 0.86). The physiological profiles of the bacterial community level were site specific, and indicated intensive utilization of polyols, carbohydrates and carboxylic acids in low and medium polluted environments, and i-erithrytol and 2-hydroxy-benzoic acid in the highly polluted environment of Sliven waste pile. Enzymes which take part in the biodegradation of recalcitrant substances were more resistant to pollution than these from the pathways of the easily degradable carbon sources. The Shannon index indicated that the physiological diversity of bacteria was site specific but not in line with the levels of pollution. A general tendency of increasing the importance of the number of utilizable substrates to bacterial physiological diversity was observed at less polluted sites, whereas in highly polluted sites the evenness of substrate utilization rate was more significant. Dehydrogenase activity was highest in Senokos upper soil layer and positively correlated (p<0.01) with the soil organic matter content. The bacterial activity (EcoPlate) and physiological diversity (Shannon index) correlated significantly and negatively with As, Cu, Zn, Pb and U, and Co, Cr, Ni and Mn, respectively. We concluded that the observed site specific shifts in bacterial communities were complex due to both the environmental peculiarities and the bacterial tolerance to the relevant level of pollution, rather than a strong indication of uranium and heavy metals toxicity.

Effect of plant species on the function and structure of the bacterial community in the rhizosphere of lead–zinc mine tailings in Zhejiang, China

To uncover the role played by pioneer plants in the natural succession of vegetation on heavy-metal mine tailings, it is important to explore the sensitive indicator of rhizosphere microbial community performance. We investigated the structure and function of rhizosphere bacterial communities of five pioneer plants growing on lead–zinc mine tailings in Zhejiang, China. Compared with the control, all five pioneer plants differentially affected the structure and function of rhizosphere bacterial communities. The number of bacteria, the activity of β-glucosidase and urease, and species richness indices were the highest in the rhizosphere of Erigeron annuus . The carbon utilization ability and the functional diversity indices were the highest in the rhizosphere of Lysimachia clethroides . There was no significant relationship between the functional or structural diversity indices and the bioavailable heavy-metal content among each species. Clustering analysis and the nonmetric dimensional scaling biplot showed that the rhizosphere bacterial communities of the five pioneer plants were different from those of control, indicating that plant species might be the main driver of microbial community composition on mine tailings. Both L. clethroides and E. annuus might be appropriate candidates for phytoremediation of mine tailings for higher soil microbial community function and species richness in rhizosphere.