Biofilm colonization and succession in a full-scale partial nitritation-anammox moving bed biofilm reactor
(2024) In Microbiome 12.- Abstract
BACKGROUND: Partial nitritation-anammox (PNA) is a biological nitrogen removal process commonly used in wastewater treatment plants for the treatment of warm and nitrogen-rich sludge liquor from anaerobic digestion, often referred to as sidestream wastewater. In these systems, biofilms are frequently used to retain biomass with aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anammox bacteria, which together convert ammonium to nitrogen gas. Little is known about how these biofilm communities develop, and whether knowledge about the assembly of biofilms in natural communities can be applied to PNA biofilms.
RESULTS: We followed the start-up of a full-scale PNA moving bed biofilm reactor for 175 days using shotgun metagenomics.... (More)
BACKGROUND: Partial nitritation-anammox (PNA) is a biological nitrogen removal process commonly used in wastewater treatment plants for the treatment of warm and nitrogen-rich sludge liquor from anaerobic digestion, often referred to as sidestream wastewater. In these systems, biofilms are frequently used to retain biomass with aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anammox bacteria, which together convert ammonium to nitrogen gas. Little is known about how these biofilm communities develop, and whether knowledge about the assembly of biofilms in natural communities can be applied to PNA biofilms.
RESULTS: We followed the start-up of a full-scale PNA moving bed biofilm reactor for 175 days using shotgun metagenomics. Environmental filtering likely restricted initial biofilm colonization, resulting in low phylogenetic diversity, with the initial microbial community comprised mainly of Proteobacteria. Facilitative priority effects allowed further biofilm colonization, with the growth of initial aerobic colonizers promoting the arrival and growth of anaerobic taxa like methanogens and anammox bacteria. Among the early colonizers were known 'oligotrophic' ammonia oxidizers including comammox Nitrospira and Nitrosomonas cluster 6a AOB. Increasing the nitrogen load in the bioreactor allowed colonization by 'copiotrophic' Nitrosomonas cluster 7 AOB and resulted in the exclusion of the initial ammonia- and nitrite oxidizers.
CONCLUSIONS: We show that complex dynamic processes occur in PNA microbial communities before a stable bioreactor process is achieved. The results of this study not only contribute to our knowledge about biofilm assembly and PNA bioreactor start-up but could also help guide strategies for the successful implementation of PNA bioreactors. Video Abstract.
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- author
- Suarez, Carolina LU ; Rosenqvist, Tage LU ; Dimitrova, Ivelina ; Sedlacek, Christopher J ; Modin, Oskar ; Paul, Catherine J LU ; Hermansson, Malte and Persson, Frank
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-03-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Ammonia, Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation, Phylogeny, Sewage/microbiology, Bacteria, Bioreactors/microbiology, Nitrogen, Biofilms, Oxidation-Reduction
- in
- Microbiome
- volume
- 12
- article number
- 51
- publisher
- BioMed Central (BMC)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85187525669
- pmid:38475926
- ISSN
- 2049-2618
- DOI
- 10.1186/s40168-024-01762-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 438d26a8-788f-41b9-a5c6-a80f8f95d6d1
- date added to LUP
- 2024-03-18 20:47:35
- date last changed
- 2024-04-16 01:50:51
@article{438d26a8-788f-41b9-a5c6-a80f8f95d6d1,
abstract = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Partial nitritation-anammox (PNA) is a biological nitrogen removal process commonly used in wastewater treatment plants for the treatment of warm and nitrogen-rich sludge liquor from anaerobic digestion, often referred to as sidestream wastewater. In these systems, biofilms are frequently used to retain biomass with aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anammox bacteria, which together convert ammonium to nitrogen gas. Little is known about how these biofilm communities develop, and whether knowledge about the assembly of biofilms in natural communities can be applied to PNA biofilms.</p><p>RESULTS: We followed the start-up of a full-scale PNA moving bed biofilm reactor for 175 days using shotgun metagenomics. Environmental filtering likely restricted initial biofilm colonization, resulting in low phylogenetic diversity, with the initial microbial community comprised mainly of Proteobacteria. Facilitative priority effects allowed further biofilm colonization, with the growth of initial aerobic colonizers promoting the arrival and growth of anaerobic taxa like methanogens and anammox bacteria. Among the early colonizers were known 'oligotrophic' ammonia oxidizers including comammox Nitrospira and Nitrosomonas cluster 6a AOB. Increasing the nitrogen load in the bioreactor allowed colonization by 'copiotrophic' Nitrosomonas cluster 7 AOB and resulted in the exclusion of the initial ammonia- and nitrite oxidizers.</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: We show that complex dynamic processes occur in PNA microbial communities before a stable bioreactor process is achieved. The results of this study not only contribute to our knowledge about biofilm assembly and PNA bioreactor start-up but could also help guide strategies for the successful implementation of PNA bioreactors. Video Abstract.</p>}},
author = {{Suarez, Carolina and Rosenqvist, Tage and Dimitrova, Ivelina and Sedlacek, Christopher J and Modin, Oskar and Paul, Catherine J and Hermansson, Malte and Persson, Frank}},
issn = {{2049-2618}},
keywords = {{Ammonia; Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation; Phylogeny; Sewage/microbiology; Bacteria; Bioreactors/microbiology; Nitrogen; Biofilms; Oxidation-Reduction}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
publisher = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
series = {{Microbiome}},
title = {{Biofilm colonization and succession in a full-scale partial nitritation-anammox moving bed biofilm reactor}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01762-8}},
doi = {{10.1186/s40168-024-01762-8}},
volume = {{12}},
year = {{2024}},
}