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Bioaugmentation of half-matured granular sludge with special microbial culture promoted establishment of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degrading aerobic granules

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Abstract

Aerobic granular sludge degrading recalcitrant compounds are generally hard to be cultivated. This study investigated the feasibility of cultivating 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-d) degrading aerobic granules using half-matured sludge granules pre-grown on glucose as the seeds and bioaugmentation with a 2,4-d degrading strain Achromobacter sp. QXH. Results showed that bioaugmentation promoted the steady transformation of glucose-grown granules to 2,4-d degrading sludge granules and fast establishment of 2,4-d degradation ability. The 2,4-d degradation rate of the bioaugmented granules was enhanced by 36–62 % compared to the control at 2,4-d concentrations of 144–565 mg/L on Day 18. The inoculated strain was incorporated into the half-matured granules successfully and survived till the end of operation (220 days). Sludge granules at a mean size of 420 µm and capable of utilizing 500 mg/L 2,4-d as the sole carbon source were finally obtained. Sludge microbial community shifted slightly during the whole operation and the dominant bacteria species belonged to Proteobacteria.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by “National Natural Science Foundation of China” (No. 51178049). The authors wish to express their gratitude to Prof. Søren Molin in Technical University of Denmark for the donation some strains required for gfp labeling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences of Ministry of Education/State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100875, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangchun Quan, Jingyun Ma, Weicong Xiong & Xinrui Wang

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  1. Xiangchun Quan
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  2. Jingyun Ma
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Correspondence to Xiangchun Quan.

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Quan, X., Ma, J., Xiong, W. et al. Bioaugmentation of half-matured granular sludge with special microbial culture promoted establishment of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degrading aerobic granules. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 38, 1081–1090 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1350-y

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