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Microbial Population Dynamics in Lemnaceae (Duckweed)-Based Wastewater Treatment System

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Abstract

The dynamic microflora associated within, and in the surrounding aquatic environment, has been found to be responsible for the functional properties of many aquatic plants. The aim of the current work was to evaluate the effectiveness of Lemnaceae-based wastewater treatment system under tropical conditions and investigate the changes in the aquatic microflora upon plant growth. A biological wastewater treatment system was designed and investigated using mixed Lemnaceae culture comprising Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrhiza in a batch mode. A significant reduction in total solids (31.8%), biochemical oxygen demand (93.5%), and chemical oxygen demand (73.2%) was observed after seven days of duckweed growth using a low inoculum. A preliminary study on the change in the microbial population diversity and functionality, in the wastewater before and after treatment, revealed an increase in the denitrifying microflora in wastewater post-Lemnaceae treatment. Dominance of 10 bacterial phyla, contributing for 98.3% of the total bacterial communities, was recorded, and ~ 50.6% loss of diversity post-treatment of wastewater was revealed by the Shannon Index. Among 16 bacterial families showing relative abundance of ≥ 1% in untreated wastewater, Methylobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Brucellaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, and Acetobacteraceae prevailed in the water post-treatment by duckweeds. This is a novel work done on the dynamics of aquatic microflora associated with Lemnaceae under tropical Indian conditions. It confirms the application of Lemnaceae-based wastewater treatment system as effective biofilter and calls for further studies on the active involvement of the endophytic and aquatic microflora in the functions of these plant.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge Ms. Pooja Tendulkar from Lemnion Green Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Pune, for supplying the duckweed cultures. We also wish to acknowledge Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences and NCCS, Pune for sharing infrastructure for the collaborative research. The authors are also thankful to Symbiosis International (Deemed University) for providing every support for research and academics.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Symbiosis Centre for Waste Resource Management, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Lavale, Pune, 412115, India

    Pooja Singh, Shreyansh Sharma, Sumit Prakash & Manikprabhu N. Dhanorkar

  2. National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pashan, Pune, India

    Kunal Jani & Yogesh Souche

  3. Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Lavale, Pune, India

    Shreyansh Sharma

  4. Symbiosis Centre for Research and Innovation, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Lavale, Pune, India

    Vinay Rale & Yogesh Patil

  5. Lemnion Green Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India

    Prasanna Jogdeo

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Contributions

Final data compilation, result analysis, and the first draft of the manuscript were prepared by PS. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by KJ, SS, and SP. VR, YS, and PJ helped with the resources and research infrastructure availability. YP and MD were involved in overall supervision and investigation of the work. All authors contributed to the study conception and design. All authors were involved in review and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Manikprabhu N. Dhanorkar.

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Singh, P., Jani, K., Sharma, S. et al. Microbial Population Dynamics in Lemnaceae (Duckweed)-Based Wastewater Treatment System. Curr Microbiol 80, 56 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-03149-0

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