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Bacterial community analysis by PCR-DGGE and 454-pyrosequencing of horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands with front aeration

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF CWs) with and without redox manipulation by front aeration were operated to treat mechanically pretreated wastewater from a nearby wastewater treatment plant. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 454-pyrosequencing were used to characterize the shifts in bacterial community diversity and composition in response to front aeration in the HSSF CWs. Both techniques revealed similar bacterial diversity between the HSSF CWs with (ACW) and without front aeration (NACW). Differences in microbial functional groups between the ACW and the NACW substrate samples were identified with 454-pyrosequencing. Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrospira) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrosomonas) had much higher abundances in the ACW, whereas more sequences related to sulfate-reducing bacteria and anaerobic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (genera Sulfuricella, Sulfuritalea, and Sulfuricurvum) were detected in the NACW. Removal efficiencies for NH4 +–N, PO4 3−–P and chemical oxygen demand in the ACW were 48.7 ± 15.5, 70.2 ± 13.5, and 82.0 ± 6.4 %, respectively, whereas the removal efficiencies for these parameters in the NACW were 10.3 ± 14.0, 53.1 ± 18.9, and 68.8 ± 10.7 %, respectively. In the ACW, the stimulation of nitrification via front aeration supplied more NO2 −–N and NO3 −–N to the subsequent denitrification process than in the NACW, resulting in higher total inorganic nitrogen removal efficiency. The differences in treatment efficiencies between the ACW and the NACW could be partially explained by the different bacterial community compositions in the two CWs.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51108335 and 51278355), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu province (BK20130398), and a project of the National Major Program of Science and Technology (2012ZX07103-004). We thank Sarina J. Ergas for critical reading of the manuscript. We are grateful to Liang Wu, Yuqin Feng, and other members of the research group for their assistance.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of China

    Fei Zhong, Juan Wu, Yanran Dai, Lihua Yang & Shuiping Cheng

  2. Marine Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nantong, 226007, People’s Republic of China

    Fei Zhong & Zhaohui Zhang

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., ENB 118, Tampa, FL, USA

    Qiong Zhang

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  1. Fei Zhong
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  2. Juan Wu
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Correspondence to Shuiping Cheng.

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Zhong, F., Wu, J., Dai, Y. et al. Bacterial community analysis by PCR-DGGE and 454-pyrosequencing of horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands with front aeration. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 1499–1512 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6063-2

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