Effect of the chemical composition of filter media on the microbial community in wastewater biofilms at different temperatures
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This study investigates the microbial community composition in the biofilms grown on two different support media in fixed biofilm reactors for aerobic wastewater treatment, using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The chemical composition of the new type of support medium (TDR) was found to be quite different from the conventionally used support medium (stone). The analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragments recovered from the laboratory scale biofilm system show that biofilm support media and temperature conditions influence bacterial community structure and composition. Greater bacterial diversity was observed under each condition, primarily due to the large number of sequences available and sustenance of rare species. There were 6 phyla found, with the highest relative abundance shown by the phylum Proteobacteria (52.71%) followed by Bacteroidetes (33.33%), Actinobacteria (4.65%), Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia (3.1%) and Chloroflex (>1%). The dataset showed 17 genera of bacterial populations to be commonly shared under all conditions, suggesting the presence of a core microbial community in the biofilms for wastewater treatment. However, some genera in the biofilms on TDR were observed in high proportions, which may be attributed to its chemical composition, explaining the improved level of wastewater treatment. The findings show that the structure of microbial communities in biofilm systems for wastewater treatment is affected by the properties of support matrix.
Date Issued
2016-10-26
Date Acceptance
2016-10-24
Citation
RSC Advances, 2016, 6 (106), pp.104345-104353
ISSN
2046-2069
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
104345
End Page
104353
Journal / Book Title
RSC Advances
Volume
6
Issue
106
Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry
SEWAGE-TREATMENT
TREATMENT SYSTEMS
ACTIVATED-SLUDGE
FUEL-CELL
BACTERIAL
DIVERSITY
PERFORMANCE
SCALE
BIOREACTOR
REMOVAL
Publication Status
Published