Microbial Community Development in a Laboratory-scale Nitrifying Activated Sludge System with Input from a Side-Stream Bioreactor Treating Digester Supernatant

Abstract

Three laboratory-scale activated sludge treatment trains were operated to investigate the effect on biodiversity in plug flow (PFR) main-stream sewage treatment from input of biomass from side-stream reactors treating anaerobic digester supernatant. One train had a completely mixed (CSTR) side-stream reactor, one a PFR side-stream reactor, and the third train was a control that did not receive input from a side-stream reactor. Restriction endonucleases were used to digest polymerase chain reaction-amplified ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes in monthly samples from each reactor. Restriction fragment banding patterns from polyacrylimide gel electrophoresis indicated that the structure of the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) populations in all five reactors stabilized by the fourth month of operation and then did not vary subsequently. Furthermore, a dendrogram generated using the Jaccard distance showed that the AOB in each side-stream reactor was most similar to the main-stream reactor in the same train indicating that the AOB population in the side-stream reactor exerts a strong influence on the population in the main-stream reactor. Sequencing results indicated that Nitrosomonas europea, an r-strategist, was the dominant AOB in the PFR side-stream reactor, while Nitrosomonas europea and Nitrosomonas marina, a marine bacterium, were strongly represented in the CSTR side-stream reactor.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Ammonia monooxygenase; Dendrogram; Nitrosomonas europea; Nitrosomonas marina; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Bacteria; Bioreactors; Nitrification; Sewage treatment; Wastewater treatment; Activated sludge process; ammonia; restriction endonuclease; unspecific monooxygenase; activated sludge; anoxic conditions; bacterium; biodiversity; bioreactor; community structure; microbial community; population dynamics; anaerobic digestion; bacterial flora; bacterioplankton; controlled study; gene amplification; microbial biomass; microbial population dynamics; Nitrosomonas; Nitrosomonas europaea; nonhuman; oxidation; phylogenetic tree; plug flow reactor; polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; polymerase chain reaction; restriction fragment; sequence analysis; sludge treatment; supernatant; Base Sequence; Cloning; Molecular; DNA Primers; Electrophoresis; Polyacrylamide Gel; Nitrites; Oxidoreductases; Phylogeny; Polymorphism; Restriction Fragment Length; RNA; Bacterial; Ribosomal; 16S; Sewage; Bacteria (microorganisms); Nitrosomonadales; Wastewater

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0273-1223

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2006 IWA Publishing, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jul 2006

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