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. 2025 Oct;15(10):344.
doi: 10.1007/s13205-025-04514-z. Epub 2025 Sep 13.

Removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) with Thiobacillus denitrificans biofilter: study of the microbial community conducted through 16S rRNA sequencing analysis

Huseyin Tombuloglu  1 , Omer Aga  2 , Imane Boudellioua  3 , Ismail Anil  2 , Cevat Yaman  2 , Aleem Qureshi  2
Affiliations

Removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) with Thiobacillus denitrificans biofilter: study of the microbial community conducted through 16S rRNA sequencing analysis

Huseyin Tombuloglu et al. 3 Biotech. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from oil and gas operations, sewage treatment facilities, and landfills are challenges to the quality of life. The main objective of this work is to study the effect of different filter packing materials on Thiobacillus denitrificans-mediated lab-scale bioreactor for H2S removal using 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing. In this study, the bioreactor column, which has three distinct layers of Ceramic Ball Filter Media (CBFM), Filter Media Ceramic Rings (FMCR), and Filter Bio Balls (FBB), was designed and operated for 60 days. The microbial community samples adhered to the surfaces of the filling materials were investigated using 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing with paired-end 2 × 150 base reads (Illumina). The results showed that the H2S gas removal efficiency reached its maximum of 99% by the end of the seventh day, followed by a steady-state pattern. Compared with polypropylene surfaces, ceramic materials successfully hosted the T. denitrificans bacteria. Changing the filter material altered the phylum species diversity of the microcosms on the filter material, as shown by alpha diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson values). The dominant Phylum across all samples, regardless of the treatment and filter material type, was Proteobacteria, followed by Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Comamonas thiooxydans, Comamonas testosterone, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus cohnii, and Mesorhizobium terrae are the most abundant species detected on the filter materials. In addition, changing the filter material causes a substantial alteration of the dominant species in the microcosm of the bioreactor. These findings highlight the critical role of filter material in supporting H2S-removing microorganisms.

Keywords: Bioreactor; Bioremediation; Gas removal; Hydrogen sulfide; Metagenome sequencing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the submission of this manuscript and that all co-authors have approved the manuscript for publication. On behalf of all co-authors, I confirm that the work presented is original research, has not been published previously, and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere, either in whole or in part. All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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