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The effect of heavy metals on microbial community structure of a sulfidogenic consortium in anaerobic semi-continuous stirred tank reactors

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Abstract

The effect of heavy metals on community structure of a heavy metal tolerant sulfidogenic consortium was evaluated by using a combination of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene and dissimilatory sulfite reductase (dsrB) gene fragments, 16S rRNA gene cloning analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). For this purpose, four anaerobic semi-continuous stirred tank reactors (referred as R1–R4) were run in parallel for 12 weeks at heavy metal loading rates of 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 7.5 mg l−1 d−1 each of Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cr6+, respectively. The abundance ratio of Desulfovibrio vulgaris detected by FISH to total cell counts was consistent with the obtained results of cloning and DGGE. This indicated that D. vulgaris was dominant in all analyzed samples and played a key role in heavy metal removal in R1, R2, and R3. In contrast, after 4 weeks of operation of R4, a distinct biomass loss was observed and no positive hybridized cells were detected by specific probes for the domain Bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria and D. vulgris. High removal efficiencies of heavy metals were achieved in R1, R2 and R3 after 12 weeks, whereas the precipitation of heavy metals in R4 was significantly decreased after 4 weeks and almost not observed after 6 weeks of operation. In addition, the anaerobic bacteria, such as Pertrimonas sulfuriphila, Clostridium sp., Citrobacter amalonaticus, and Klebsiella sp., identified from DGGE bands and clone library were hypothesized as heavy metal resistant bacteria at a loading rate of 1.5 mg l−1 d−1 of Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cr6+.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support provided by Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF/Germany) and Institute of Water Quality Control, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Technische Universität München, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technische Universität München, Am Coulombwall, 85748, Garching, Germany

    Hoa T. Q. Kieu & Elisabeth Müller

  2. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engler-Bunte-Institut, Chair of Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany

    Harald Horn

  3. Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Hoa T. Q. Kieu

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  1. Hoa T. Q. Kieu
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  2. Harald Horn
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  3. Elisabeth Müller
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Correspondence to Elisabeth Müller.

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Kieu, H.T.Q., Horn, H. & Müller, E. The effect of heavy metals on microbial community structure of a sulfidogenic consortium in anaerobic semi-continuous stirred tank reactors. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 451–460 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-013-1012-5

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