Effect of pH on phosphine production and the fate of phosphorus during anaerobic process with granular sludge

Effect of excess sludge and food waste feeding ratio on the nutrient fractions, and bacterial and fungal community during aerobic co-composting

The effect of excess sludge and food waste feeding ratio on the co-composting process was explored using 5% bagasse biochar as an additive and conditioner. Results showed that when the mass ratio was 1:1, nitrogen fixation ability was the strongest and ammonia nitrogen increment in the pile reached 2.31 mg/g. The increase in excess sludge content/food waste ratio during composting was conducive to the accumulation of H₂O-P, BD-P, HCl-P, NaOH-P and NaOH₈₅-P. When the ratio of excess sludge to food waste mass was 1:1, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was the largest in the compost, which corresponded to 72.77% at the phylum level. Food waste mass was more beneficial to the growth and reproduction of microorganisms and to the metabolic activities related to membrane transport. Considering the fungal content, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were maximum, with relative abundance of 69.53% and 20.91%, respectively, at the mass ratio of 1:1.

Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres

A long-term goal of exoplanet studies is the identification and detection of biosignature gases. Beyond the most discussed biosignature gas O₂, only a handful of gases have been considered in detail. In this study, we evaluate phosphine (PH₃). On Earth, PH₃ is associated with anaerobic ecosystems, and as such, it is a potential biosignature gas in anoxic exoplanets. We simulate the atmospheres of habitable terrestrial planets with CO₂- and H₂-dominated atmospheres and find that PH₃ can accumulate to detectable concentrations on planets with surface production fluxes of 10¹⁰ to 10¹⁴ cm^-2 s^-1 (corresponding to surface concentrations of 10s of ppb to 100s of ppm), depending on atmospheric composition and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. While high, the surface flux values are comparable to the global terrestrial production rate of methane or CH₄ (10¹¹ cm^-2 s^-1) and below the maximum local terrestrial PH₃ production rate (10¹⁴ cm^-2 s^-1). As with other gases, PH₃ can more readily accumulate on low-UV planets, for example, planets orbiting quiet M dwarfs or with a photochemically generated UV shield. PH₃ has three strong spectral features such that in any atmosphere scenario one of the three will be unique compared with other dominant spectroscopic molecules. Phosphine's weakness as a biosignature gas is its high reactivity, requiring high outgassing rates for detectability. We calculate that tens of hours of JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) time are required for a potential detection of PH₃. Yet, because PH₃ is spectrally active in the same wavelength regions as other atmospherically important molecules (such as H₂O and CH₄), searches for PH₃ can be carried out at no additional observational cost to searches for other molecular species relevant to characterizing exoplanet habitability. Phosphine is a promising biosignature gas, as it has no known abiotic false positives on terrestrial planets from any source that could generate the high fluxes required for detection.

Phosphine production in anaerobic wastewater treatment under tetracycline antibiotic pressure

The influence of tetracycline (TC) antibiotics on phosphine (PH₃) production in the anaerobic wastewater treatment was studied. A lab-scale anaerobic baffled reactor with three compartments was employed to simulate this process. The reactor was operated in a TC-absence wastewater and 250μg/L TC-presence wastewater for three months after a start-up period, respectively. The responses of pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total phosphorus (TP), enzymes activity (dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase), and microbial community were investigated to reveal the effect of TC on PH₃ production. Results suggested that the dehydrogenase (DH) activity, acid phosphatase (ACP) activity and COD have positive relationship with PH₃ production, while pH, ORP level and the TP in liquid phase have negative relationship with PH₃ production. With prolonged TC exposure, decrease in pH and increase in DH activity are beneficial to PH₃ production, while decrease in COD and ACP activity are not the limiting factors for PH₃ production.

Emission and distribution of phosphine in paddy fields and its relationship with greenhouse gases

Phosphine (PH₃), as a gaseous phosphide, plays an important role in the phosphorus cycle in ecosystems. In this study, the emission and distribution of phosphine, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) in paddy fields were investigated to speculate the future potential impacts of enhanced greenhouse effect on phosphorus cycle involved in phosphine by the method of Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. During the whole period of rice growth, there was a significant positive correlation between CO₂ emission flux and PH₃ emission flux (r=0.592, p=0.026, n=14). Similarly, a significant positive correlation of emission flux was also observed between CH₄ and PH₃ (r=0.563, p=0.036, n=14). The linear regression relationship was determined as [PH₃]_flux=0.007[CO₂]_flux+0.063[CH₄]_flux-4.638. No significant differences were observed for all values of matrix-bound phosphine (MBP), soil carbon dioxide (SCO₂), and soil methane (SCH₄) in paddy soils. However, there was a significant positive correlation between MBP and SCO₂ at heading, flowering and ripening stage. The correlation coefficients were 0.909, 0.890 and 0.827, respectively. In vertical distribution, MBP had the analogical variation trend with SCO₂ and SCH₄. Through Pearson correlation analysis and multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, pH, redox potential (Eh), total phosphorus (TP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) were identified as the principal factors affecting MBP levels, with correlative rankings of Eh>pH>TP>ACP. The multiple stepwise regression model ([MBP]=0.456∗[ACP]+0.235∗[TP]-1.458∗[Eh]-36.547∗[pH]+352.298) was obtained. The findings in this study hold great reference values to the global biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus in the future.

Effects of applied potential on phosphine formation in synthetic wastewater treatment by Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC)

Phosphine (PH₃) emission from conventional biological wastewater treatment is very inefficient (ng-μg m^-3). In this work, we investigated the feasibility of promoting PH₃ formation from inorganic phosphorus (IP) or organic phosphorus (OP) containing synthetic wastewater treatment by Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) for the first time. Positive effect of applied potential on PH₃ production was observed after methanogens was inhibited. The highest production of PH₃ (1103.10 ± 72.02 ng m^-3) was obtained in IP-fed MEC operated at -0.6 V, which was about 5-fold and 2-fold compared to that in open circuit experiment and OP-fed MEC, respectively. Meanwhile, PH₃ formation corresponded positively with current density and alkaline phosphatase activity. This result showed that suitable potential could enhance the activity of relevant enzymes and boost the biosynthesis of PH₃. Bacterial communities analysis based on high-throughput sequencing revealed that applied potential was conductive to the enrichment of phosphate-reducing organisms in contrast to the control test. These results provide a new idea for resource utilization of phosphorus in wastewater.

Determination of phosphite in a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant

Phosphite (HPO3(2-), +3), a reduced P species in the P biogeochemical cycle, was monitored in a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) that uses an anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic-membrane bioreactor (A(2)/O-MBR) technology for treating mixed wastewater (56% industrial wastewater and 44% domestic wastewater) from June 2013 to May 2014. Wastewater samples were collected from influent after having gone through the fine grille, anaerobic tank, anoxic tank, and aerobics tank, respectively. The final stage yielded effluent. Results confirmed the presence of phosphite in the MWTP ranging from 4.62 ± 1.00 μg P L(-1) to 34.30 ± 3.49 μg P L(-1) in influent and from 1.15 ± 0.5 μg P L(-1) to 4.42 ± 0.9 μg P L(-1) in effluent. Phosphite accounted for approximately 0.15% to 2.27% of total soluble phosphorus (TSP). During the A(2)/O-MBR process, the average removal of phosphite was 82.41 ± 7.45%. The anaerobic biological treatment removed the most phosphite from wastewater in this study. Spatially, phosphite concentrations decreased gradually as the wastewater treatment process progressed. Seasonally, the phosphite concentrations in spring and winter were higher than those in summer and autumn. The phosphite concentration in effluent was of the same order of magnitude as that in nearby natural water, which suggested MWTP effluent may be an important phosphite contributor to the natural water.

Redox chemistry in the phosphorus biogeochemical cycle

The element phosphorus (P) controls growth in many ecosystems as the limiting nutrient, where it is broadly considered to reside as pentavalent P in phosphate minerals and organic esters. Exceptions to pentavalent P include phosphine--PH3--a trace atmospheric gas, and phosphite and hypophosphite, P anions that have been detected recently in lightning strikes, eutrophic lakes, geothermal springs, and termite hindguts. Reduced oxidation state P compounds include the phosphonates, characterized by C-P bonds, which bear up to 25% of total organic dissolved phosphorus. Reduced P compounds have been considered to be rare; however, the microbial ability to use reduced P compounds as sole P sources is ubiquitous. Here we show that between 10% and 20% of dissolved P bears a redox state of less than +5 in water samples from central Florida, on average, with some samples bearing almost as much reduced P as phosphate. If the quantity of reduced P observed in the water samples from Florida studied here is broadly characteristic of similar environments on the global scale, it accounts well for the concentration of atmospheric phosphine and provides a rationale for the ubiquity of phosphite utilization genes in nature. Phosphine is generated at a quantity consistent with thermodynamic equilibrium established by the disproportionation reaction of reduced P species. Comprising 10-20% of the total dissolved P inventory in Florida environments, reduced P compounds could hence be a critical part of the phosphorus biogeochemical cycle, and in turn may impact global carbon cycling and methanogenesis.

Physiological and biochemical responses of rice seeds to phosphine exposure during germination

Rice seeds (Tianyou, 3618) were used to examine the physiological and biochemical responses to phosphine exposure during germination. A control (0 mg m(-3)) and four concentrations of phosphine (1.4 mg m(-3), 4.2 mg m(-3), 7.0 mg m(-3) and 13.9 mg m(-3)) were used to treat the rice seeds. Each treatment was applied for 90 min once per day for five days. The germination rate (GR); germination potential (GP); germination index (GI); antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT); and lipid peroxidation measured through via malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined as indicators of the physiological and biochemical responses of the rice seeds to phosphine exposure. These indicators were determined once per day for five days. The results indicated that the GR, GP and GI of the rice seeds markedly decreased after phosphine exposure. The changes in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes due to the phosphine exposure were also significant. The exposure lowered the CAT and SOD activities and increased POD activity in the treated rice seeds compared with controls. The MDA content exhibited a slow increase trend with the increase of phosphine concentration. These results suggest that phosphine has inhibitory effects on seed germination. In addition, phosphine exposure caused oxidative stress in the seeds. The antioxidant enzymes could play a pivotal role against oxidative injury. Overall, the effect of phosphine on rice seeds is different from what has been reported previously for insects and mammals.

Occurrence of matrix-bound phosphine in polar ornithogenic tundra ecosystems: effects of alkaline phosphatase activity and environmental variables

Phosphine (PH(3)), a reduced phosphorus compound, is a highly toxic and reactive atmospheric trace gas. In this study, a total of ten ornithogenic soil/sediment profiles were collected from tundra ecosystems of east Antarctica and Arctic, and matrix-bound phosphine (MBP), the phosphorus fractions and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) were analyzed. High MBP concentrations were found in these profiles with the range from 39.59 ng kg(-1) dw to 11.77 μg kg(-1) dw. MBP showed a consistent vertical distribution pattern in almost all the soil profiles, and its concentrations increased at soil surface layers and then decreased with depths. MBP levels in the ornithogenic soils were two to three orders of magnitude lower than those in ornithogenic sediments. The yield of PH(3) as a fraction of total P in all the profiles ranged from 10(-5) to 10(-9) mgPH(3) mg(-1)P with higher mean PH(3) yield in the ornithogenic sediments. The ornithogenic soils showed high concentrations of total phosphorus (TP), organic phosphorus (OP), inorganic phosphorus (IP) and metal elements (Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Al and Ca) but low MBP levels, vice versa for the ornithogenic sediments. No correlation had been obtained between MBP concentrations and IP, OP and TP. There existed an exponential correlation (r=0.67, p<0.01) between MBP and soil/sediment moisture. MBP concentrations showed a significant positive correlation with APA (r=0.668, p<0.0001), total organic carbon (r=0.501, p<0.0001), total hydrogen (r=0.483, p<0.0001) and total sulfur (r=0.398, p<0.001), indicating that the production of MBP is associated with microbially mediated factors rather than the contents of TP, IP and OP in the P-enriched ornithogenic soils/sediments. Our results indicated that MBP is an important gaseous link in the phosphorus biogeochemical cycles of ornithogenic tundra ecosystems in Antarctica and Arctic.

Distribution characteristics of matrix-bound phosphine along the coast of China and possible environmental controls

Matrix-bound phosphine (MBP) concentrations in surface sediments collected from 37 stations along the coast of China in 2006 are reported. MBP was found in all samples and the average concentration was 6.30ngkg(-1)dry weight (dw). The distribution of MBP showed certain spatial variation characteristics with high MBP concentrations at stations near to the coast. The average concentrations of MBP in the northern Yellow Sea (NYS), the southern Yellow Sea (SYS), the northern area of East China Sea (NECS), the southern area of East China Sea (SECS), and South China Sea (SCS) were 5.57+/-3.78, 3.78+/-2.81, 5.27+/-3.07, 5.48+/-4.05 and 13.52+/-7.86ngkg(-1)dw, respectively. The correlations between MBP and influencing factors, such as the sedimentary environmental characteristics (sediment type, the grain size, contents of phosphorous, organic matters and redox potential) and the aquatic environmental characteristics (temperature, salinity, depth and hydrodynamics) were studied. The results indicated that MBP was strongly influenced by various factors, such as total phosphorus (TP), organic phosphorus (OP), organic carbon (OC), the grain size and hydrodynamics, all of which not only offered reasonable interpretations for the distribution characteristics of MBP but also provided evidence to support the viewpoint that phosphine originated from OP decomposition. This work is the first comprehensive study of the distribution of MBP along the coast of China and its relationships with environmental factors which will lead to a better understanding of the phosphorus (P) biogeochemical cycle in the sea.

Improvement in post-treatment of digested swine wastewater

The performance of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) during post-treatment of digested effluent of swine wastewater was investigated. While operating SBR to treat the digested effluent directly, the performance was very poor with COD removal rate about 10%, and NH4+-N removal rate nearly 50%, with a scarce removal of total phosphorus. The performance apparently improved after adding raw swine wastewater or alkali to digested effluent. Although similar results for NH4+-N removal were achieved adopting both measures, the addition of raw wastewater proved superior in removing total nitrogen and total phosphorus. The addition of raw wastewater obtained effluent COD around 300 mg/L which was lower than that after alkali addition i.e. around 550 mg/L. Judged from the investment, oxygen demand, sludge yield, biogas production and running cost, the traditional combined anaerobic-SBR process is unfeasible to treat swine wastewater, while the combined anaerobic-SBR process with addition of raw swine wastewater can be a suitable biotechnology.

Preliminary investigation on the role of microorganisms in the production of phosphine

The relationships between the phosphine content and various microbial populations, activities of different enzymes were investigated firstly. The results indicated that the phosphine content of samples from various environments was positively related to total anaerobic microorganisms, organic phosphate compound-dissolving bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, and the activities of alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase, with correlation coefficients (R2) up to 0.93, 0.90, 0.69, 0.79, and 0.82, respectively. Results also showed that the phosphine content was not related to total aerobic microorganisms, inorganic phosphate compound-dissolving bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and the acidic phosphatase activity. Nutrients such as yeast extract and glucose were added, at a time and individually, to normal or autoclaved soil samples. The soil samples were inoculated with sulfate-reducing bacterial (SRB) enrichments and/or denitrifying bacterial (DNB) enrichment. After incubation for one month at 30 degrees C, the phosphane content of these samples was analyzed. The results indicated that the addition of glucose or yeast extract could greatly increase the phosphane content. Moreover, it was revealed that inoculation with SRB or DNB could also promote the formation of phosphine. The DNB, however, was more efficient in this regard. The highest phosphine content, about 5 times that of the control, was detected in the sample that was added with both glucose and yeast extract and inoculated with SRB and DNB simultaneously. SRB and DNB were enriched for several generations and the phosphane content of different generations was analyzed. Furthermore, SRB and DNB enrichments were inoculated into different media, in the beginning of enriching, the phosphane content was about the same for different enrichments, and differed more significantly as the enrichment process was carried further. In fourth generation, the phosphane content of DNB enrichment was about 3 times of that of SRB enrichment, indicating that the inoculation of different enrichments into different media caused the variations of the phosphine content. The highest phosphine content was detected in the sample which was inoculated with DNB enrichment into the denitrifying medium without nitrate. It is inferred from these results that microorganisms play an important role in the production of phosphine in different environments.

Matrix-bound phosphine in Antarctic biosphere

Phosphine (PH(3)) is a natural gaseous carrier of phosphorus in its geochemical cycles, and it might be of importance to the phosphorus balance of natural ecosystem. For the first time phosphine levels were investigated in the Earth's coldest, driest, and most southerly Antarctic biosphere. Matrix-bound phosphine (MBP) was found in sea animal guanos, ornithogenic sediments and soils. Phosphine concentrations varied with different sea animal guanos. Average phosphine concentrations in empire penguin, gentoo penguin, sea lion, skua and gull guanos were 2.54+/-1.28 ng kg(-1), 6.21+/-2.15 ng kg(-1), 9.12+/-4.66 ng kg(-1), 11.90+/-1.29 ng kg(-1) and 14.55+/-6.74 ng kg(-1), respectively. The contents of phosphorus in these various matrixes have an important effect on MBP concentrations. The levels of phosphine appeared an increasing tendency with the content of TP, IP and OP in sea animal guanos, ornithogenic sediments or soils. The correlation between PH(3) and Fe, Mn, Al in these matrixes was also analyzed and discussed. Phosphine showed an obviously positive correlation with Fe in sea animal guanos. However, excessively high Fe, Al and Mn may inhibit the formation of PH(3) in the ornithogenic soils or sediments in the Antarctic biosphere.