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Abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in a biological aerated filter process

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Abstract

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) represent an important group of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms that are able to convert ammonia to nitrite, a function which is crucial for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater. In this study, we investigated the abundance and diversity of AOA in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) which used a biological aerated filter (BAF) as the main processing mode. According to the quantitative PCR results, AOA clearly outnumbered ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) during the whole process. The abundance of AOA amoA genes in the filter layer of BAF was highest with the value varied from 6.32 × 103 to 3.8 × 104 copies/ng DNA. The highest abundance of AOB amoA genes was 1.32 × 102 copies/ng DNA, recorded in the effluent of the ACTIFLO® settling tank. The ratios of AOA/AOB in the WWTP were maintained at two or three orders of magnitude. Most AOA obtained from the WWTP fell within the Nitrosopumilus cluster. The abundance of AOA and AOB was significantly correlated with ammonium nitrogen concentrations and pH value. The community structure of AOA was significantly influenced by dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH value and chemical oxygen demand.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.50978069).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory of Microalgal Bioenergy, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Hongyi Chen, Wenbiao Jin, Zhaoyun Liang, Abd El-Fatah Abomohra, Xu Zhou, Renjie Tu & Songfang Han

  2. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Abd El-Fatah Abomohra

Authors
  1. Hongyi Chen
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  2. Wenbiao Jin
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  3. Zhaoyun Liang
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  4. Abd El-Fatah Abomohra
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  5. Xu Zhou
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  6. Renjie Tu
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  7. Songfang Han
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Correspondence to Wenbiao Jin or Xu Zhou.

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Chen, H., Jin, W., Liang, Z. et al. Abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in a biological aerated filter process. Ann Microbiol 67, 405–416 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-017-1272-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-017-1272-4

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