Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 15;8(1):4566.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22683-1.

Seasonal bacterial community succession in four typical wastewater treatment plants: correlations between core microbes and process performance

Bo Zhang  1 , Quanwei Yu  2 , Guoqi Yan  3 , Hubo Zhu  4 , Xiang Yang Xu  1   2 , Liang Zhu  5   6
Affiliations

Seasonal bacterial community succession in four typical wastewater treatment plants: correlations between core microbes and process performance

Bo Zhang et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

To understand the seasonal variation of the activated sludge (AS) bacterial community and identify core microbes in different wastewater processing systems, seasonal AS samples were taken from every biological treatment unit within 4 full-scale wastewater treatment plants. These plants adopted A2/O, A/O and oxidation ditch processes and were active in the treatment of different types and sources of wastewater, some domestic and others industrial. The bacterial community composition was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The correlations among microbial community structure, dominant microbes and process performance were investigated. Seasonal variation had a stronger impact on the AS bacterial community than any variation within different wastewater treatment system. Facing seasonal variation, the bacterial community within the oxidation ditch process remained more stable those in either the A2/O or A/O processes. The core genera in domestic wastewater treatment systems were Nitrospira, Caldilineaceae, Pseudomonas and Lactococcus. The core genera in the textile dyeing and fine chemical industrial wastewater treatment systems were Nitrospira, Thauera and Thiobacillus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of Illumina sequencing, microbial diversity, characteristics and average operational data of WWTP. OUT: Operational taxonomic unit, SRT: Solid retention time (d). COD removal: average monthly COD removal efficiency. T-N removal: average monthly total nitrogen removal efficiency. T-P removal: average monthly total phosphorus removal efficiency. NH4+-N removal: average monthly ammonia removal efficiency.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of bacterial community structure of different biological treatment units within one full-scale wastewater treatment system. Upper: Qc-A2/0 Middle: SX-AO Lower: SY-AO.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bacterial community composition seasonal variation at phylum level. (A) Variation of QG-A2O. (B) Variation of SX-AO. (C) Variation of SY-AO. (D) Variation of SX-OD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of summer samples.
Figure 5
Figure 5
CCA and RDA analysis plot. The arrow length represents the strength of the correlation between the environmental variables and the microbes. The longer the arrow length, the stronger the correlation. The perpendicular distance between microbes and environmental variable axes in the plot reflects their correlations. The smaller the distance, the stronger the correlation. B/C = BOD5/CODCr. pH = Influent pH value. NH4 + -N = ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency. TN = total nitrogen removal efficiency. COD = Chemical Oxygen Demand removal efficiency. DO = dissolved oxygen. Temperature: influent temperature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Matsui K, Kimata T. Performance evaluation of the oxidation ditch process. Water Sci Technol. 1986;18:297–306.
    1. Lu Q, Wu HY, Li HY, Yang DH. Enhanced biological nutrient removal in modified carbon source division anaerobic anoxic oxic process with return activated sludge pre-concentration. Chin J Chem Eng. 2015;23:1027–1034. doi: 10.1016/j.cjche.2014.11.013. - DOI
    1. Zhang QH, et al. Current status of urban wastewater treatment plants in China. Environ Int. 2016;92-93:11–22. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.03.024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li N, Liu HJ, Xue YG, Wang HY, Dai XH. Partition and fate analysis of fluoroquinolones in sewage sludge during anaerobic digestion with thermal hydrolysis pretreatment. Sci Total Environ. 2017;581:715–721. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.188. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liang YH, et al. Microbial characteristics and nitrogen removal of simultaneous partial nitrification, anammox and denitrification (SNAD) process treating low C/N ratio sewage. Bioresour Technol. 2014;169:103–109. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.06.064. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types