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Successional development of biofilms in moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems treating municipal wastewater

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Biofilm-based technologies, such as moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems, are widely used to treat wastewater. Biofilm development is important for MBBR systems as much of the microbial biomass is retained within reactors as biofilm on suspended carriers. Little is known about this process of biofilm development and the microorganisms upon which MBBRs rely. We documented successional changes in microbial communities as biofilms established in two full-scale MBBR systems treating municipal wastewater over two seasons. 16S rRNA gene-targeted pyrosequencing and clone libraries were used to describe microbial communities. These data indicate a successional process that commences with the establishment of an aerobic community dominated by Gammaproteobacteria (up to 52 % of sequences). Over time, this community shifts towards dominance by putatively anaerobic organisms including Deltaproteobacteria and Clostridiales. Significant differences were observed between the two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), mostly due to a large number of sequences (up to 55 %) representing Epsilonproteobacteria (mostly Arcobacter) at one site. Archaea in young biofilms included several lineages of Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. In contrast, the mature biofilm consisted entirely of Methanosarcinaceae (Euryarchaeota). This study provides new insights into the community structure of developing biofilms at full-scale WWTPs and provides the basis for optimizing MBBR start-up and operational parameters.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge staff at Moa Point and Karori WWTPs for their assistance with this study. Funding for this project was made available by Veolia Limited. Additionally, the authors give thanks to R. Simister, D. Waite, and P. Tsai for their input into the bioinformatics aspects of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Microbial Innovation, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Kristi Biswas, Michael W. Taylor & Susan J. Turner

  2. BioDiscovery New Zealand Limited, Brooke House, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand

    Susan J. Turner

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  1. Kristi Biswas
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Correspondence to Kristi Biswas.

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Biswas, K., Taylor, M.W. & Turner, S.J. Successional development of biofilms in moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems treating municipal wastewater. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 1429–1440 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-5082-8

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