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Guo Z, Ma XS, Ni SQ. Journey of the swift nitrogen transformation: Unveiling comammox from discovery to deep understanding. Chemosphere 2024; 358:142093. [PMID: 38679176 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
COMplete AMMonia OXidizer (comammox) refers to microorganisms that have the function of oxidizing NH4+ to NO3- alone. The discovery of comammox overturned the two-step theory of nitrification in the past century and triggered many important scientific questions about the nitrogen cycle in nature. This comprehensive review delves into the origin and discovery of comammox, providing a detailed account of its detection primers, clades metabolic variations, and environmental factors. An in-depth analysis of the ecological niche differentiation among ammonia oxidizers was also discussed. The intricate role of comammox in anammox systems and the relationship between comammox and nitrogen compound emissions are also discussed. Finally, the relationship between comammox and anammox is displayed, and the future research direction of comammox is prospected. This review reveals the metabolic characteristics and distribution patterns of comammox in ecosystems, providing new perspectives for understanding nitrogen cycling and microbial ecology. Additionally, it offers insights into the potential application value and prospects of comammox.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Guo
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China
| | - Xue Song Ma
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China
| | - Shou-Qing Ni
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Shandong, 266237, China.
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2
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Yan Y, Lee J, Han IL, Wang Z, Li G, McCullough K, Klaus S, Kang D, Wang D, Patel A, McQuarrie J, Stinson BM, deBarbadillo C, Dombrowski P, Bott C, Gu AZ. Comammox and unknown ammonia oxidizers contribute to nitrite accumulation in an integrated A-B stage process that incorporates side-stream EBPR (S2EBPR). Water Res 2024; 253:121220. [PMID: 38341969 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
A novel integrated pilot-scale A-stage high rate activated sludge, B-stage short-cut biological nitrogen removal and side-stream enhanced biological phosphorus removal (A/B-shortcut N-S2EBPR) process for treating municipal wastewater was demonstrated with the aim to achieve simultaneous and carbon- and energy-efficient N and P removal. In this studied period, an average of 7.62 ± 2.17 mg-N/L nitrite accumulation was achieved through atypical partial nitrification without canonical known NOB out-selection. Network analysis confirms the central hub of microbial community as Nitrospira, which was one to two orders of magnitude higher than canonical aerobic oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in a B-stage nitrification tank. The contribution of comammox Nitrospira as AOB was evidenced by the increased amoB/nxr ratio and higher ammonia oxidation activity. Furthermore, oligotyping analysis of Nitrospira revealed two dominant sub-clusters (microdiveristy) within the Nitrospira. The relative abundance of oligotype II, which is phylogenetically close to Nitrospira_midas_s_31566, exhibited a positive correlation with nitrite accumulation in the same operational period, suggesting its role as comammox Nitrospira. Additionally, the phylogenetic investigation suggested that heterotrophic organisms from the family Comamonadacea and the order Rhodocyclaceae embedding ammonia monooxygenase and hydroxylamine oxidase may function as heterotrophic nitrifiers. This is the first study that elucidated the impact of integrating the S2EBPR on nitrifying populations with implications on short-cut N removal. The unique conditions in the side-stream reactor, such as low ORP, favorable VFA concentrations and composition, seemed to exert different selective forces on nitrifying populations from those in conventional biological nutrient removal processes. The results provide new insights for integrating EBPR with short-cut N removal process for mainstream wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Yan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - Jangho Lee
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - I L Han
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - Zijian Wang
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - Guangyu Li
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - Kester McCullough
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States; Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA 23454, United States; modelEAU, Département de génie civil et de génie des eaux, Université Laval, 1065 av. de la Médecine, Québec, Canada
| | - Stephanie Klaus
- Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA 23454, United States
| | - Da Kang
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States; Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, China
| | - Dongqi Wang
- Department of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710048, China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Anand Patel
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
| | - Jim McQuarrie
- Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Denver, CO 80229, United States
| | | | - Christine deBarbadillo
- District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, District of Columbia, 5000 Overlook Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20032, United States
| | | | - Charles Bott
- Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Virginia Beach, VA 23454, United States.
| | - April Z Gu
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States.
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3
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Hou J, Zhu Y, Liu J, Lin L, Zheng M, Yang L, Wei W, Ni BJ, Chen X. Competitive enrichment of comammox Nitrospira in floccular sludge. Water Res 2024; 251:121151. [PMID: 38246075 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
The discovery of complete ammonium oxidation (comammox) has subverted the traditional perception of two-step nitrification, which plays a key role in achieving biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. Floccular sludge-based treatment technologies are being applied at the majority of wastewater treatment plants in service where detection of various abundances and activities of comammox bacteria have been reported. However, limited efforts have been made to enrich and subsequently characterize comammox bacteria in floccular sludge. To this end, a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) in the step-feeding mode was applied in this work to enrich comammox bacteria through controlling appropriate operational conditions (dissolved oxygen of 0.5 ± 0.1 g-O2/m3, influent ammonium of 40 g-N/m3 and uncontrolled longer sludge retention time). After 215-d operation, comammox bacteria gradually gained competitive advantages over counterparts in the SBR with a stable nitrification efficiency of 92.2 ± 2.2 %: the relative abundance of Nitrospira reached 42.9 ± 1.3 %, which was 13 times higher than that of Nitrosomonas, and the amoA gene level of comammox bacteria increased to 7.7 ± 2.1 × 106 copies/g-biomass, nearly 50 times higher than that of conventional ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. The enrichment of comammox bacteria, especially Clade A Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa, in the floccular sludge led to (i) apparent affinity constants for ammonium and oxygen of 3.296 ± 0.989 g-N/m3 and 0.110 ± 0.004 g-O2/m3, respectively, and (ii) significantly low N2O and NO production, with emission factors being 0.136 ± 0.026 % and 0.023 ± 0.013 %, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaying Hou
- College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
| | - Ying Zhu
- College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
| | - Jinzhong Liu
- College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
| | - Limin Lin
- School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310030, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Linyan Yang
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Bing-Jie Ni
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Xueming Chen
- College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China.
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4
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Nguyen Quoc B, Peng B, De Clippeleir H, Winkler MKH. Case study: Bioaugmenting the comammox dominated biomass from B-stage to enhance nitrification in A-stage at Blue Plains AWWTP. Water Environ Res 2024; 96:e11005. [PMID: 38407520 DOI: 10.1002/wer.11005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
A comprehensive case study was undertaken at the Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to explore the bioaugmentation technique of introducing nitrifying sludge into the non-nitrifying stage over the course of two operational years. This innovative approach involved the return of waste activated sludge (WAS) from the biological nutrient removal (BNR) system to enhance the nitrification in the high carbon removal rate system. The complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) Nitrospira Nitrosa was identified as the main nitrifier in the system. Bioaugmentation was shown to be successful as nitrifiers returned from BNR were able to increase the nitrifying activity of the high carbon removal rate system. There was a positive correlation between returned sludge from the BNR stage and the specific total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal rate in A stage. The bioaugmentation process resulted in a remarkable threefold increase in the specific TKN removal rate within the A stage. Result suggested that recycling of WAS is a simple technique to bio-augment a low SRT system with nitrifiers and add ammonia oxidation to a previously non-nitrifying stage. The results from this case study hold the potential for applicable implications for other WWTPs that have a similar operational scheme to Blue Plains, allowing them to reuse WAS from the B stage, previously considered waste, to enhance nitrification and thus improving overall nitrogen removal performance. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Comammox identifying as main nitrifier in the B stage. Comammox enriched sludge from B stage successfully bio-augmented the East side of A stage up to threefold. Bioaugmentation of comammox in the West side of A stage was potentially inhibited by the gravity thickened overflow. Sludge returned from B stage to A stage can improve nitrification with a very minor retrofits and short startup times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bao Nguyen Quoc
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Bo Peng
- DC Water and Sewer Authority, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - Mari-Karoliina H Winkler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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5
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Welz PJ, Thobejane MP, van Blerk GN. Ammonium oxidizing bacterial populations in South African activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Water Environ Res 2023; 95:e10945. [PMID: 37897128 DOI: 10.1002/wer.10945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
This is the first study that describes ammonium oxidizing bacterial populations and correlations of these populations with a range of criteria in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants in South Africa. In this study, not only the influent but also the activated sludge chemistry was comprehensively characterized. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to determine the relative significances of the geographical location (factor: site), wastewater treatment plant process (factor: configuration), seasonality (factor: season), and environmental parameters on the ammonium oxidizing bacterial genera in six municipal activated sludge wastewater treatments plants from two sites (the cities of Cape Town and Ekurhuleni). The geographical location (site) was significant for selection of the ammonium oxidizing genera (Global ANOSIM R value = 0.538, p = 0.001). It was established that the inter-site differences were not climatic in origin, nor related to the composition of the influent, but were rather driven by the activated sludge chemistry. It was found using BEST analysis that the activated sludge ammonia, activated sludge total phosphate, and activated sludge total chemical oxygen demand were the most significant (p < 0.001) drivers for ammonium oxidizing bacterial selection (ANOSIM Global R value 0.419) and were significantly higher in the activated sludge from the City of Cape Town wastewater treatment plants. Nitrosospira was the most abundant ammonium oxidizing bacterial genus, with notably higher relative and estimated actual abundances in the City of Cape Town wastewater treatment plants than the City of Ekurhuleni wastewater treatment plants. The strong selection of Nitrosospira in the City of Cape Town wastewater treatment plants with higher nutrient concentrations strongly suggests that high concentrations of activated sludge ammonia, activated sludge total phosphate, and activated sludge total chemical oxygen demand are key selective drivers for this genus. PRACTITIONER POINTS: First comprehensive study describing ammonium oxidizing bacterial populations in Southern African domestic activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. The geographical location (site) was significant for selection of different ammonium oxidizing genera (Global ANOSIM R value = 0.538, p = 0.001). Inter-site differences driven by the activated sludge chemistry, not climate or influent wastewater composition. Selection of Nitrosospira driven by high concentrations of activated sludge ammonia, total phosphate and total chemical oxygen demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela J Welz
- Applied Microbial and Health Biotechnology Institute (AMBHI), Bellville campus, Symphony Way Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Mfundisi P Thobejane
- Applied Microbial and Health Biotechnology Institute (AMBHI), Bellville campus, Symphony Way Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
- Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT), Kempton Park, South Africa
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6
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Zheng M, Tian Z, Chai Z, Zhang A, Gu A, Mu G, Wu D, Guo J. Ubiquitous occurrence and functional dominance of comammox Nitrospira in full-scale wastewater treatment plants. Water Res 2023; 236:119931. [PMID: 37045640 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.119931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) bacteria has fundamentally upended the traditional two-step nitrification conception, but their functional importance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is still poorly understood. This study investigated distributions of comammox Nitrospira, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in activated sludge samples collected from 25 full-scale WWTPs. Using quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, our results revealed that comammox Nitrospira ubiquitously occurred in all of 25 WWTPs and even outnumbered AOB and AOA with an average abundance of 1∼183 orders of magnitude higher in 19 WWTPs. Moreover, DNA-based stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) assays validated that comammox Nitrospira actively participated in ammonia oxidation in the three microcosms seeding with activated sludge from three typical WWTPs, in which the ratios of comammox amoA to AOB amoA were at the range of 1∼10, 10∼100 and >100, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis in heavy fractions further indicated that Nitrospira nitrosa (N. nitrosa) was the dominant and active species. We quantified the contribution of ammonia oxidizers based on the currently available kinetic parameters of the representative species and found that comammox made major contributions to ammonia oxidation than other nitrifiers (5 ∼ 106 times that of AOB). The findings not only demonstrate the ubiquitous occurrence of comammox, but also highlight their functional dominance in ammonia oxidation in WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maosheng Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.
| | - Zhichao Tian
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Zimin Chai
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Anqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Ailu Gu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Guangli Mu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Dedong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
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7
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Cotto I, Vilardi KJ, Huo L, Fogarty EC, Khunjar W, Wilson C, De Clippeleir H, Gilmore K, Bailey E, Lücker S, Pinto AJ. Low diversity and microdiversity of comammox bacteria in wastewater systems suggest specific adaptations within the Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa cluster. Water Res 2023; 229:119497. [PMID: 36563511 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Studies have found Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa-like bacteria to be the principal or sole comammox bacteria in nitrogen removal systems for wastewater treatment. In contrast, multiple populations of strict ammonia and nitrite oxidizers co-exist in similar systems. This apparent lack of diversity is surprising and could impact the feasibility of leveraging comammox bacteria for nitrogen removal. We used full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing and genome-resolved metagenomics to compare the species-level diversity of comammox bacteria with that of strict nitrifiers in full-scale wastewater treatment systems and assess whether this comparison is consistent or diverged at the strain-level. Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that Nitrosomonas-like bacteria exhibited higher species-level diversity in comparison with other nitrifying bacteria, while the strain-level diversity (also called microdiversity) of most Nitrospira-like bacteria were higher than Nitrosomonas-like bacteria with few exceptions (one Nitrospira lineage II population). Comammox bacterial metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) were associated with Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa. The average amino acid identity between principal comammox bacterial MAGs (93% ± 3) across systems was significantly higher than that of the Nitrosomonas-like ammonia oxidizers (73% ± 8), the Nitrospira_A-like nitrite oxidizer (85% ± 4), and the Nitrospira_D-like nitrite oxidizer (83% ± 1). This demonstrated the low species-level diversity of comammox bacteria compared with strict nitrifiers and further suggests that the same comammox population was detected in all systems. Comammox bacteria (Nitrospira lineage II), Nitrosomonas and, Nitrospira_D (Nitrospira lineage II) MAGs were significantly less microdiverse than the Nitrospira_A (lineage I) MAGs. Interestingly, strain-resolved analysis also indicates that different nitrogen removal systems harbor different comammox bacterial strains within the Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa cluster. These results suggest that comammox bacteria associated with Ca. Nitrospira nitrosa have low species- and strain-level diversity in nitrogen removal systems and may thus harbor specific adaptations to the wastewater ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irmarie Cotto
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Katherine J Vilardi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Linxuan Huo
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Emily C Fogarty
- Committee on Microbiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | | | | | | | - Kevin Gilmore
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, United States
| | - Erika Bailey
- City of Raleigh Public Utilities, Raleigh, NC, United States
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, RIBES, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Ameet J Pinto
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States.
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Zheng M, Mu G, Zhang A, Wang J, Chang F, Niu J, Wang X, Gao T, Zhao Z. Predominance of comammox bacteria among ammonia oxidizers under low dissolved oxygen condition. Chemosphere 2022; 308:136436. [PMID: 36115478 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Although low-oxygen nitrification can significantly cut down the aeration demand in wastewater treatment plants, little is known about the community dynamics of relevant microorganisms under different oxygen concentrations. Here, by conducting a series of bioreactors with oxygen concentrations of 0%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 40%, and 70%, we provided a comprehensive investigation on the behaviors and performances of comammox bacteria (CMX), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) during the nitrification process. Quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that CMX was the dominant ammonia-oxidizer under low oxygen condition (10%) after the four-month operation with the abundance increased by 8.65 times higher than the initial operation, whereas the growth of AOA and AOB was inhibited. Moreover, Nitrospira nitrosa dominated the CMX species (relative abundance >96%) in low dissolved oxygen concentrations, while Nitrospira nitrificans (3.39%) seemed to prefer high oxygen conditions. Our study indicates the long-term effects of oxygen concentrations on the niche differentiation of ammonia oxidizers, and highlights the significance of CMX in low-oxygen nitrification for reducing global carbon emission and energy consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maosheng Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Guangli Mu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Anqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Jiawen Wang
- College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100871, China.
| | - Fang Chang
- Marine Resources Research Centre, Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, M.O.T., Tianjin, 300456, China
| | - Junfeng Niu
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Xinwei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Tian Gao
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhirong Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Technology, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
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9
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Zhang H, Cheng F, Sun S, Li Z. Diversity distribution and characteristics of comammox in different ecosystems. Environ Res 2022; 214:113900. [PMID: 35839911 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The discovery of complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which can oxidize ammonia into nitrate, has recently changed the concept of traditional nitrification. However, comparative studies on the analysis of comammox microbial community in different ecosystems are still scarce. In this study, the distribution and diversity of the comammox microbial community in farmlands, riparian zones, and river sediments in summer and winter were investigated by high-throughput sequencing. And the relative abundance of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms was measured via their amoA genes of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The relationships between ammonia oxidation microorganisms and the environmental factors were further analyzed. The abundance of comammox clade A was one order of magnitude lower than that of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) but higher than that of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The abundance of comammox was higher in summer than in winter and higher in farmland soils (1.81 ± 0.95 × 107 copies g-1) than in riparian zones and river sediments. Meanwhile, Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa were the most widespread comammox in most samples (up to 86.31%), followed by Candidatus Nitrospira nitrificans, with a low abundance of Candidatus Nitrospira inopinata (lower than 0.61%). Furthermore, the abundance of comammox clade A had a significantly negative correlation with pH and NH4+ concentration (P < 0.05). The study revealed the potential advantages of comammox in farmlands and may be conducive to further research on comammox in microbial nitrogen cycling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Fan Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Siyu Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Zhengkui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
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10
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Huang T, Xia J, Liu T, Su Z, Guan Y, Guo J, Wang C, Zheng M. Comammox Nitrospira Bacteria Are Dominant Ammonia Oxidizers in Mainstream Nitrification Bioreactors Emended with Sponge Carriers. Environ Sci Technol 2022; 56:12584-12591. [PMID: 35973026 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidation (i.e., comammox) is a newly discovered microbial process performed by a subset of the Nitrospira genus, and this unique microbial process has been ubiquitously detected in various wastewater treatment units. However, the operational conditions favoring comammox prevalence remain unclear. In this study, the dominance of comammox Nitrospira in four sponge biofilm reactors fed with low-strength ammonium (NH4+ = 23 ± 3 mg N/L) wastewater was proved by coupling 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and metagenomic sequencing. The results showed that comammox Nitrospira dominated in the nitrifying guild over canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) constantly, despite the significant variation in the residual ammonium concentration (0.01-15 mg N/L) under different sets of operating conditions. This result indicates that sponge biofilms greatly favor retaining comammox Nitrospira in wastewater treatment and highlights an essential role of biomass retention in the comammox prevalence. Moreover, analyses of the assembled metagenomic sequences revealed that the retrieved amoA gene sequences affiliated with comammox Nitrospira (53.9-66.0% read counts of total amoA gene reads) were always higher than those (28.4-43.4%) related to β-proteobacterial AOB taxa. The comammox Nitrospira bacteria detected in the present biofilm systems were close to clade A Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuo Huang
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
- Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Jun Xia
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Tao Liu
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zicheng Su
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Yuntao Guan
- Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Chengwen Wang
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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11
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He S, Zhao Z, Tian Z, Xu C, Liu Y, He D, Zhang Y, Zheng M. Comammox bacteria predominate among ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in municipal but not in refinery wastewater treatment plants. J Environ Manage 2022; 316:115271. [PMID: 35594823 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Comammox bacteria have proved to be one dominant and significant ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), however, it still remains unknown about their abundance and diversity in industrial WWTPs. In this study, activated sludge samples from 8 municipal WWTPs and 6 industrial WWTPs treating refinery wastewater were taken and analyzed using qPCR and amoA gene sequencing. Intriguingly, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) results suggested that comammox bacteria had a higher numerical abundance compared with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in municipal WWTPs but did not in refinery WWTPs. Moreover, comammox amoA sequences obtained from high-throughput sequencing were retrieved from all the 8 municipal samples but only 1 industrial sample. Further phylogenetic analysis revealed that N. nitrosa cluster accounted for as high as 79.56% of the total comammox affiliated sequences, which was the most numerically abundant comammox species in municipal WWTPs. This study provided new insights into the abundance and diversity of comammox bacteria in the biological nitrification process in municipal and refinery wastewater treatment systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shishi He
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhirong Zhao
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Zhichao Tian
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Chi Xu
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Yuan Liu
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Da He
- Key Laboratory of Ecological Impacts of Hydraulic Projects and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystem of Ministry of Water Resources, Institute of Hydroecology, Ministry of Water Resources & Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Yinghui Zhang
- Guangxi Huantou Water Group Co. LTD, Nanning, 530015, China
| | - Maosheng Zheng
- The Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Main Building G619, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China.
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12
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White AM, Nault ME, McMahon KD, Remucal CK. Synthesizing Laboratory and Field Experiments to Quantify Dominant Transformation Mechanisms of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) in Aquatic Environments. Environ Sci Technol 2022; 56:10838-10848. [PMID: 35856571 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Laboratory studies used to assess the environmental fate of organic chemicals such as pesticides fail to replicate environmental conditions, resulting in large errors in predicted transformation rates. We combine laboratory and field data to identify the dominant loss processes of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in lakes for the first time. Microbial and photochemical degradation are individually assessed using laboratory-based microcosms and irradiation studies, respectively. Field campaigns are conducted in six lakes to quantify 2,4-D loss following large-scale herbicide treatments. Irradiation studies show that 2,4-D undergoes direct photodegradation, but modeling efforts demonstrated that this process is negligible under environmental conditions. Microcosms constructed using field inocula show that sediment microbial communities are responsible for degradation of 2,4-D in lakes. Attempts to quantify transformation products are unsuccessful in both laboratory and field studies, suggesting that their persistence is not a major concern. The synthesis of laboratory and field experiments is used to demonstrate best practices in designing laboratory persistence studies and in using those results to mechanistically predict contaminant fate in complex aquatic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber M White
- Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Michelle E Nault
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Madison, Bureau of Water Quality, Madison, Wisconsin 53707, United States
| | - Katherine D McMahon
- Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Christina K Remucal
- Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
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13
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Zhang SN, Wang JG, Wang DQ, Jiang QY, Quan ZX. Abundance and Niche Differentiation of Comammox in the Sludges of Wastewater Treatment Plants That Use the Anaerobic-Anoxic-Aerobic Process. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12070954. [PMID: 35888046 PMCID: PMC9322089 DOI: 10.3390/life12070954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which directly oxidize ammonia to nitrate, were recently identified and found to be ubiquitous in artificial systems. Research on the abundance and niche differentiation of comammox in the sludges of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) would be useful for improving the nitrogen removal efficiency of WWTPs. Here, we investigated the relative abundance and diversity of comammox in fifteen sludges of five WWTPs that use the anaerobic−anoxic−aerobic process in Jinan, China, via quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and ammonia monooxygenase gene. In the activated sludges in the WWTPs, comammox clade A.1 was widely distributed and mostly comprised Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa-like comammox (>98% of all comammox). The proportion of this clade was negatively correlated (p < 0.01) with the dissolved oxygen (DO) level (1.7−8 mg/L), and slight pH changes (7.20−7.70) affected the structure of the comammox populations. Nitrospira lineage I frequently coexisted with Nitrosomonas, which generally had a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) with the DO level. Our study provided an insight into the structure of comammox and other nitrifier populations in WWTPs that use the anaerobic−anoxic−aerobic process, broadening the knowledge about the effects of DO on comammox and other nitrifiers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Qiu-Yue Jiang
- Correspondence: (Q.-Y.J.); (Z.-X.Q.); Tel.: +86-21-3124-0665 (Z.-X.Q.)
| | - Zhe-Xue Quan
- Correspondence: (Q.-Y.J.); (Z.-X.Q.); Tel.: +86-21-3124-0665 (Z.-X.Q.)
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14
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Vilardi KJ, Cotto I, Rivera MS, Dai Z, Anderson CL, Pinto A. Comammox Nitrospira bacteria outnumber canonical nitrifiers irrespective of electron donor mode and availability in biofiltration systems. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6553816. [PMID: 35325104 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria coexist with canonical ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria in a wide range of environments. Whether this is due to competitive or cooperative interactions, or a result of niche separation is not yet clear. Understanding the factors driving coexistence of nitrifiers is critical to manage nitrification processes occurring in engineered and natural ecosystems. In this study, microcosm-based experiments were used to investigate the impact of nitrogen source and loading on the population dynamics of nitrifiers in drinking water biofilter media. Shotgun sequencing of DNA followed by co-assembly and reconstruction of metagenome assembled genomes revealed clade A2 comammox bacteria were likely the primary nitrifiers within microcosms and increased in abundance over Nitrsomonas-like ammonia and Nitrospira-like nitrite oxidizing bacteria irrespective of nitrogen source type or loading. Changes in comammox bacterial abundance did not correlate with either ammonia or nitrite oxidizing bacterial abundance in urea amended systems where metabolic reconstruction indicated potential for cross feeding between ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria. In contrast, comammox bacterial abundance demonstrated a negative correlation with nitrite oxidizers in ammonia amended systems. This suggests potentially weaker synergistic relationships between ammonia and nitrite oxidizers might enable comammox bacteria to displace nitrite oxidizers from complex nitrifying communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine J Vilardi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, MA, MA, USA
| | - Irmarie Cotto
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, MA, MA, USA
| | | | - Zihan Dai
- Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | | | - Ameet Pinto
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
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15
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Yuan D, Zheng L, Tan Q, Wang X, Xing Y, Wang H, Wang S, Zhu G. Comammox activity dominates nitrification process in the sediments of plateau wetland. Water Res 2021; 206:117774. [PMID: 34757282 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) has increased our understanding of nitrification. Although comammox has been shown to play an important role in plain wetland ecosystems, studies of comammox contribution are still limited in plateau wetland ecosystems. Here, we analyzed the abundance, activity, community and biogeochemical mechanisms of the comammox bacteria in Yunnan-kweichow and Qinghai-Tibet plateau wetlands from elevations of 1000-5000 m. Comammox bacteria were widely distributed in all 16 sediment samples with abundances higher than 0.96 ± 0.26 × 107 copies g-1 (n = 16). Comammox showed high activity (1.18 ± 0.17 to 1.98 ± 0.08 mg N kg-1 d-1) at high-elevation (3000-5000 m) and dominated the nitrification process (activity contribution: 37.20 - 60.62%). The activity contribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (1.07 ± 0.08 to 2.79 ± 0.35 mg N kg-1 d-1) dominated the nitrification process (44.55 - 64.15%) in low-elevation (1000-3000 m) samples. All detected comammox Nitrospira belonged to clade A, while clade B was not detected. Elevation always had a strongest effect on key comammox species. Thus, we infer that elevation may drive the high relative abundance of the species Candidatus Nitrospira nitrificans (avg. 12.40%) and the low relative abundance of the species Nitrospira sp. SG-bin2 (avg. 4.75%) in high-elevation samples that showed a high comammox activity (avg. 1.62 mg N kg-1 d-1) and high contribution (avg. 46.08%) to the nitrification process. These results indicate that comammox may be an important and currently underestimated microbial nitrification process in plateau wetland ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongdan Yuan
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Lei Zheng
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Qiuyang Tan
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xue Wang
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yuzi Xing
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Huipeng Wang
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Shanyun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Guibing Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
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16
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Zhou X, Li B, Wei J, Ye Y, Xu J, Chen L, Lu C. Temperature Influenced the Comammox Community Composition in Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants. Microb Ecol 2021; 82:870-884. [PMID: 33665721 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-021-01724-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification is a pivotal step applied in water engineered systems for nitrogen removal. Temperature variation due to seasonal changes is a great challenge for maintaining nitrogen removal efficiency in water engineered ecosystems by affecting nitrifier activities. Research on the abundance, activity, and metabolic characteristics of nitrifiers can provide information for selecting suitable design parameters to ensure efficient nitrogen removal in different seasons. To date, the temperature-related niche separation of comammox, a newly discovered nitrifier with potential high-growth yield, has been rarely investigated. This study addressed the distribution of comammox and canonical nitrifying guilds in drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in different seasons. qPCR-based surveys showed that comammox ubiquitously distributed and greatly outnumbered other ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes in both DWTPs and WWTPs, except in Aug samples from DWTPs, suggesting the potential competitive advantage of AOA in summer. The nitrificans-like comammox and nitrosa-like comammox comprised the majority of the comammox community in DWTPs and WWTPs, respectively, and COD and NH4+ concentrations significantly contributed to the distinct comammox phylotype distribution between DWTPs and WWTPs. The temperature-related distribution pattern of the comammox community was observed at each site. Moreover, the network complex of comammox communities was highest in Dec at all the sites, possibly contributing to the survival of comammox community in low temperature conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Zhou
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Bolun Li
- School of Geographic Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Jun Wei
- Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, Hangzhou, 311122, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yu Ye
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Junzeng Xu
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Lina Chen
- College of Agricultural Science and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Chunhui Lu
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China.
- State key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, Jiangsu Province, China.
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17
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Li D, Fang F, Liu G. Efficient Nitrification and Low-Level N 2O Emission in a Weakly Acidic Bioreactor at Low Dissolved-Oxygen Levels Are Due to Comammox. Appl Environ Microbiol 2021; 87:e00154-21. [PMID: 33975896 PMCID: PMC8208134 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00154-21r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrification is an essential process for nutrient removal from wastewater and an important emission source of nitrous oxide (N2O), which is a powerful greenhouse gas and a dominant ozone-depleting substance. In this study, nitrification and N2O emissions were tested in two weakly acidic (pH 6.3 to 6.8) reactors: one with dissolved oxygen (DO) at over 2.0 mg/liter and the other with DO at approximately 0.5 mg/liter. Efficient nitrification was achieved in both reactors. Compared to that in the high-DO reactor, N2O emission in the low-DO reactor decreased slightly, by 20%, and had insignificant correlation with the fluctuations of DO (P = 0.935) and nitrite (P = 0.713), indicating that N2O might not be produced mainly via nitrifier denitrification. Based on quantitative PCR (qPCR), quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridization (qFISH), and functional gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing, it was found that complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), i.e., Nitrospira organisms, significantly outnumbered canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in both weakly acidic reactors, especially in the low-DO reactor with the comammox/AOB amoA gene ratio increasing from 6.6 to 17.1. Therefore, it was speculated that the enriched comammox was the primary cause for the slightly decreased N2O emission under long-term low DO in the weakly acidic reactor. This study demonstrated that the comammox Nitrospira can survive well under the weakly acidic and low-DO conditions, implying that achieving efficient nitrification with low N2O emission as well as low energy and alkalinity consumption is feasible for wastewater treatment.IMPORTANCE Nitrification in wastewater treatment is an important process for eutrophication control and an emission source for the greenhouse gas N2O. The nitrifying process is usually operated at a slightly alkaline pH and high DO (>2 mg/liter) to ensure efficient nitrification. However, it consumes a large amount of energy and chemicals, especially for wastewater without sufficient alkalinity. This paper demonstrates that comammox can adapt well to the weakly acidic and low-DO bioreactors, with a result of efficient nitrification and low N2O emission. These findings indicate that comammox organisms are significant for sustainable wastewater treatment, which provides an opportunity to achieve efficient nitrification with low N2O production as well as low energy and chemical consumption simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deyong Li
- School of the Environment, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- School of the Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fang Fang
- College of the Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Guoqiang Liu
- School of the Environment, Guangdong Engineering Research Center of Water Treatment Processes and Materials, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- School of the Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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18
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Li D, Fang F, Liu G. Efficient nitrification and low N(2)O emission in a weakly acidic bioreactor at low dissolved oxygen levels are due to comammox. Appl Environ Microbiol 2021; 87:AEM. [PMID: 33741624 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00154-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrification is an essential process for nutrient removal from wastewater and an important emission source of nitrous-oxide (N2O), which is a powerful greenhouse gas and a dominant ozone-depleting substance. In this study, nitrification and N2O emissions were tested in two weakly acidic (pH = 6.3-6.8) reactors: one with dissolved oxygen (DO) over 2.0 mg/L and the other with DO approximately 0.5 mg/L. Efficient nitrification was achieved in both reactors. Compared to the high-DO reactor, N2O emission in the low-DO reactor decreased slightly by 20% and had insignificant correlation with the fluctuations of DO (P = 0.935) and nitrite (P = 0.713), indicating that N2O might not be mainly produced via nitrifier denitrification. Based on qPCR, qFISH, functional gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing, it was found that complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) Nitrospira significantly outnumbered canonical ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in both weakly acidic reactors, especially in the low DO reactor with the comammox/AOB amoA gene ratio increasing from 6.6 to 17.1. Therefore, it was speculated that the enriched comammox was the primary cause for the slightly decreased N2O emission under long-term low DO in weakly acidic reactor. This study demonstrated that comammox Nitrospira can survive well under the weakly acidic and low-DO conditions, implying that achieving efficient nitrification with low N2O emission as well as low energy and alkalinity consumption is feasible for wastewater treatment.ImportanceNitrification in wastewater treatment is an important process for eutrophication control and an emission source for greenhouse gas of N2O. The nitrifying process is usually operated at a slightly alkaline pH and high DO (>2 mg/L) to ensure efficient nitrification. However, it consumes a large amount of energy and chemicals especially for wastewater without sufficient alkalinity. This manuscript demonstrated that comammox can adapt well to the weakly acidic and low-DO bioreactors, with a result of efficient nitrification and low N2O emission. These findings indicate that comammox are significant for sustainable wastewater treatment, which provides an opportunity to achieve efficient nitrification with low N2O production as well as low energy and chemical consumption simultaneously.
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19
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Li J, Hua ZS, Liu T, Wang C, Li J, Bai G, Lücker S, Jetten MSM, Zheng M, Guo J. Selective enrichment and metagenomic analysis of three novel comammox Nitrospira in a urine-fed membrane bioreactor. ISME Commun 2021; 1:7. [PMID: 37938245 PMCID: PMC9723585 DOI: 10.1038/s43705-021-00005-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The discovery of complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira has added an important new process to the microbial nitrogen cycle. While comammox Nitrospira have been detected in various ecosystems, only few studies have achieved their enrichment over other canonical nitrifiers. Here, we obtained a selective enrichment of comammox Nitrospira in a urine-fed membrane bioreactor in less than 200 days. By using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and quantitative PCR of the functional marker gene amoA, we observed a dominance (up to 30% relative abundance) of comammox Nitrospira over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea. Furthermore, the complete genomes of three new clade A comammox Nitrospira were recovered by metagenomics. These three strains were divergent from previously reported comammox species according to comparative genome and amoA-based analyses. In addition to the key genes for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, the three recovered genomes contained a complete urea utilization pathway. Our findings suggest that the urea present in the urine media played a significant role in the selective enrichment of these novel comammox Nitrospira, and support the diversity and versatility of their metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiyun Li
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Zheng-Shuang Hua
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, People's Republic of China
| | - Tao Liu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Chengwen Wang
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
| | - Jie Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Ge Bai
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, IWWR, Radboud University, Nijmegen, AJ, The Netherlands
| | - Mike S M Jetten
- Department of Microbiology, IWWR, Radboud University, Nijmegen, AJ, The Netherlands
| | - Min Zheng
- Advanced Water Management Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
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Agrawal S, Weissbrodt DG, Annavajhala M, Jensen MM, Arroyo JMC, Wells G, Chandran K, Vlaeminck SE, Terada A, Smets BF, Lackner S. Time to act-assessing variations in qPCR analyses in biological nitrogen removal with examples from partial nitritation/anammox systems. Water Res 2021; 190:116604. [PMID: 33279744 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is broadly used as the gold standard to quantify microbial community fractions in environmental microbiology and biotechnology. Benchmarking efforts to ensure the comparability of qPCR data for environmental bioprocesses are still scarce. Also, for partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) systems systematic investigations are still missing, rendering meta-analysis of reported trends and generic insights potentially precarious. We report a baseline investigation of the variability of qPCR-based analyses for microbial communities applied to PN/A systems. Round-robin testing was performed for three PN/A biomass samples in six laboratories, using the respective in-house DNA extraction and qPCR protocols. The concentration of extracted DNA was significantly different between labs, ranged between 2.7 and 328 ng mg-1 wet biomass. The variability among the qPCR abundance data of different labs was very high (1-7 log fold) but differed for different target microbial guilds. DNA extraction caused maximum variation (3-7 log fold), followed by the primers (1-3 log fold). These insights will guide environmental scientists and engineers as well as treatment plant operators in the interpretation of qPCR data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shelesh Agrawal
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences, Institute IWAR, Chair of Wastewater Engineering, Technical University of Darmstadt, Franziska-Braun-Straße 7, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
| | - David G Weissbrodt
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Medini Annavajhala
- Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, USA
| | - Marlene Mark Jensen
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Microbial Ecology & Technology Laboratory, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningtorvet, Bldg 115, DK-2800, Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - George Wells
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Kartik Chandran
- Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, USA
| | - Siegfried E Vlaeminck
- Department of Bioscience Engineering, Research Group of Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium
| | - Akihiko Terada
- Institute of Global Innovation Research and Department of Chemical Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
| | - Barth F Smets
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Microbial Ecology & Technology Laboratory, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningtorvet, Bldg 115, DK-2800, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Susanne Lackner
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences, Institute IWAR, Chair of Wastewater Engineering, Technical University of Darmstadt, Franziska-Braun-Straße 7, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
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21
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Harringer M, Alfreider A. Primer evaluation and development of a droplet digital PCR protocol targeting amoA genes for the quantification of Comammox in lakes. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2982. [PMID: 33536606 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82613-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
To date, little is known about the ecological significance of Comammox (COMplete AMMonia OXidizers) Nitrospira in the water column of freshwater lakes. Water samples collected along depth profiles were used to investigate the distribution of Comammox in 13 lakes characterized by a wide range of physicochemical properties. Several published primers, which target the α-subunit of the ammonia monooxygenase, generated non-specific PCR products or did not amplify target genes from lake water and other habitats. Therefore, a new primer set has been designed for specific detection of Comammox in lakes. The high specificity of the PCR assay was confirmed by sequencing analysis. Quantification of Comammox amoA genes in lake water samples based on droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) revealed very low abundances (not exceeding 85 amoA copies ml-1), which suggest that Comammox is of minor importance for the nitrification process in the water column of the study sites. Surprisingly, samples taken from the sediment/water-interface along an oxygen gradient in dimictic Piburger See showed Comammox abundances three to four magnitudes higher than in the pelagic realm of the lake, which indicates a preference of Comammox to a particle-attached lifestyle.
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22
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Vijayan A, Vattiringal Jayadradhan RK, Pillai D, Prasannan Geetha P, Joseph V, Isaac Sarojini BS. Nitrospira as versatile nitrifiers: Taxonomy, ecophysiology, genome characteristics, growth, and metabolic diversity. J Basic Microbiol 2021; 61:88-109. [PMID: 33448079 DOI: 10.1002/jobm.202000485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The global nitrogen cycle is of paramount significance as it affects important processes like primary productivity and decomposition. Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite, is a key process in the nitrogen cycle. The knowledge about nitrification has been challenged during the last few decades with inventions like anaerobic ammonia oxidation, ammonia-oxidizing archaea, and recently the complete ammonia oxidation (comammox). The discovery of comammox Nitrospira has made a paradigm shift in nitrification, before which it was considered as a two-step process, mediated by chemolithoautotrophic ammonia oxidizers and nitrite oxidizers. The genome of comammox Nitrospira equipped with molecular machineries for both ammonia and nitrite oxidation. The genus Nitrospira is ubiquitous, comes under phylum Nitrospirae, which comprises six sublineages consisting of canonical nitrite oxidizers and comammox. The single-step nitrification is energetically more feasible; furthermore, the existence of diverse metabolic pathways in Nitrospira is critical for its establishment in various habitats. The present review discusses the taxonomy, ecophysiology, isolation, identification, growth, and metabolic diversity of the genus Nitrospira; compares the genomes of canonical nitrite-oxidizing Nitrospira and comammox Nitrospira, and analyses the differences of Nitrospira with other nitrifying bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ardhra Vijayan
- Department of Aquatic Animal Health Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Rejish Kumar Vattiringal Jayadradhan
- Department of Aquatic Animal Health Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India.,Department of Aquaculture, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Devika Pillai
- Department of Aquatic Animal Health Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Preena Prasannan Geetha
- National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Valsamma Joseph
- National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India
| | - Bright Singh Isaac Sarojini
- National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India
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23
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How SW, Nittami T, Ngoh GC, Curtis TP, Chua ASM. An efficient oxic-anoxic process for treating low COD/N tropical wastewater: Startup, optimization and nitrifying community structure. Chemosphere 2020; 259:127444. [PMID: 32640378 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we assessed and optimized a low-dissolved-oxygen oxic-anoxic (low-DO OA) process to achieve a low-cost and sustainable solution for wastewater treatment systems in the developing tropical countries treating low chemical oxygen demand-to-nitrogen ratio (COD/N) wastewater. The low-DO OA process attained complete ammonia removal and the effluent nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) was below 0.3 mg/L. The recommended hydraulic retention time and sludge retention time (SRT) were 16 h and 20 days, respectively. The 16S rRNA sequencing data revealed that long SRT (20 days) encouraged the growth of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) affiliated with "Candidatus Nitrospira defluvii". Comammox made up 10-20% of the Nitrospira community. NOB and comammox related to Nitrospira were enriched at long SRT (20 days) to achieve good low-DO nitrification performance. The low-DO OA process was efficient and has simpler design than conventional processes, which are keys for sustainable wastewater treatment systems in the developing countries treating low COD/N wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seow Wah How
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Tadashi Nittami
- Division of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, 79-5 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, 240-8501, Japan
| | - Gek Cheng Ngoh
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Thomas P Curtis
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Adeline Seak May Chua
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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24
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Jiang R, Wang JG, Zhu T, Zou B, Wang DQ, Rhee SK, An D, Ji ZY, Quan ZX. Use of Newly Designed Primers for Quantification of Complete Ammonia-Oxidizing (Comammox) Bacterial Clades and Strict Nitrite Oxidizers in the Genus Nitrospira. Appl Environ Microbiol 2020; 86:e01775-20. [PMID: 32826214 PMCID: PMC7531962 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01775-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) bacteria play key roles in environmental nitrogen cycling and all belong to the genus Nitrospira, which was originally believed to include only strict nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (sNOB). Thus, differential estimation of sNOB abundance from that of comammox Nitrospira has become problematic, since both contain nitrite oxidoreductase genes that serve as common targets for sNOB detection. Herein, we developed novel comammox Nitrospira clade A- and B-specific primer sets targeting the α-subunit of the ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) and a sNOB-specific primer set targeting the cyanase gene (cynS) for quantitative PCR (qPCR). The high coverage and specificity of these primers were checked by use of metagenome and metatranscriptome data sets. Efficient and specific amplification with these primers was demonstrated using various environmental samples. Using the newly designed primers, we successfully estimated the abundances of comammox Nitrospira and sNOB in samples from two chloramination-treated drinking water systems and found that, in most samples, comammox Nitrospira clade A was the dominant type of Nitrospira and also served as the primary ammonia oxidizer. Compared with other ammonia oxidizers, comammox Nitrospira had a higher abundance in process water samples in these two drinking water systems. We also demonstrated that sNOB can be readily misrepresented by an earlier method, calculated by subtracting the comammox Nitrospira abundance from the total Nitrospira abundance, especially when the comammox Nitrospira proportion is relatively high. The new primer sets were successfully applied to comammox Nitrospira and sNOB quantification, which may prove useful in understanding the roles of Nitrospira in nitrification in various ecosystems.IMPORTANCENitrospira is a dominant nitrite-oxidizing bacterium in many artificial and natural environments. The discovery of complete ammonia oxidizers in the genus Nitrospira prevents the use of previously identified primers targeting the Nitrospira 16S rRNA gene or nitrite oxidoreductase (nxr) gene for differential determination of strict nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (sNOB) in the genus Nitrospira and among comammox bacteria in this genus. We designed three novel primer sets that enabled quantification of comammox Nitrospira clades A and B and sNOB with high coverage, specificity, and accuracy in various environments. With the designed primer sets, sNOB and comammox Nitrospira were differentially estimated in drinking water systems, and we found that comammox clade A predominated over sNOB and other ammonia oxidizers in process water samples. Accurate quantification of comammox Nitrospira and sNOB by use of the newly designed primers will provide essential information for evaluating the contribution of Nitrospira to nitrification in various ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Jiang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian-Gong Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ting Zhu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Bin Zou
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Dan-Qi Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sung-Keun Rhee
- Department of Microbiology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong An
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhi-Yuan Ji
- Hangzhou Water Holding Group Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhe-Xue Quan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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25
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Lin C, Xu H, Qin W, Xu S, Tang X, Kuang L, Wang X, Jiang B, Chen J, Shan J, Adams J, Qin H, Wang B. Evaluation of Two Primer Sets for Amplification of Comammox Nitrospira amoA Genes in Wetland Soils. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:560942. [PMID: 33101233 PMCID: PMC7555835 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.560942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
After the discovery of complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira, detection and assessments of the contribution of comammox Nitrospira communities to nitrogen cycling are in great demand. PCR-based approach, a common method for the detection of comammox, depends strongly on accurate amplification of the amoA genes from the original DNA samples using appropriate primers. In this study, we reported an evaluation of the performance of two commonly used primer sets, Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R and comaA/B-244f/659r, for amplifying the comammox amoA genes from three representative wetland soils in China [Sangsang (SS), Sanjiang (SJ), and Xianghai (XH)]. Our results demonstrated the two primer sets could both successfully amplify the clades with high relative abundances (RA), and further revealed a broadly similar diversity and community composition of dominant comammox operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (RA ≥ 1%) in each of the three wetland soils. However, the clades with low RA, such as the clade A (1.26%) in SJ and the clade B (11.54%) in XH that were recovered by metagenomics analysis, failed to be amplified using comaA/B-244f/659r, but were successfully amplified and sequenced using Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R. It indicated that, compared to comaA/B-244f/659r, Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R was more sensitive to the clades with low RA. However, it is worth noting that Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R would overestimate the RA of some rare clades. For example, the RAs of clade B in XH were overestimated by 32-fold. Furthermore, high levels of non-target amplification were detected via gel electrophoresis using both primer sets, especially for comammox Clade B amoA genes, implying that we should treat qPCR results based on these primers with caution. Taken together, our study comprehensively compared the performance of the two primer sets on the sensitivity and specificity of amplifying comammox amoA genes in three wetland soils, pointing out the necessity of further development of new primers for the efficient and accurate detection of comammox in various environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenshuo Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hang Xu
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wei Qin
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Shaoyi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiufeng Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Lu Kuang
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Xinxin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Bin Jiang
- Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Junhui Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jun Shan
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Jonathan Adams
- School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hua Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Baozhan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.,Key Laboratory of Microbiological Engineering of Agricultural Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
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26
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Petrovski S, Rice DTF, Batinovic S, Nittami T, Seviour RJ. The community compositions of three nitrogen removal wastewater treatment plants of different configurations in Victoria, Australia, over a 12-month operational period. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104:9839-52. [DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10901-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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27
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Spasov E, Tsuji JM, Hug LA, Doxey AC, Sauder LA, Parker WJ, Neufeld JD. High functional diversity among Nitrospira populations that dominate rotating biological contactor microbial communities in a municipal wastewater treatment plant. ISME J 2020; 14:1857-1872. [PMID: 32332864 PMCID: PMC7305129 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-0650-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via nitrite, is an important process in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Members of the Nitrospira genus that contribute to complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) have only recently been discovered and their relevance to engineered water treatment systems is poorly understood. This study investigated distributions of Nitrospira, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in biofilm samples collected from tertiary rotating biological contactors (RBCs) of a municipal WWTP in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Using quantitative PCR (qPCR), 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and metagenomics, our results demonstrate that Nitrospira species strongly dominate RBC biofilm samples and that comammox Nitrospira outnumber all other nitrifiers. Genome bins recovered from assembled metagenomes reveal multiple populations of comammox Nitrospira with distinct spatial and temporal distributions, including several taxa that are distinct from previously characterized Nitrospira members. Diverse functional profiles imply a high level of niche heterogeneity among comammox Nitrospira, in contrast to the sole detected AOA representative that was previously cultivated and characterized from the same RBC biofilm. Our metagenome bins also reveal two cyanase-encoding populations of comammox Nitrospira, suggesting an ability to degrade cyanate, which has only been shown previously for several Nitrospira representatives that are strict nitrite oxidizers. This study demonstrates the importance of RBCs as model systems for continued investigation of environmental factors that control the distributions and activities of AOB, AOA, comammox Nitrospira, and other nitrite oxidizers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilie Spasov
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Jackson M Tsuji
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Laura A Hug
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Andrew C Doxey
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Laura A Sauder
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Wayne J Parker
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Josh D Neufeld
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
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28
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Tsuchiya Y, Nakagawa T, Takahashi R. Quantification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Ammonia Oxidizers on Biofilm Carriers in a Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant. Microbes Environ 2020; 35. [PMID: 32249239 PMCID: PMC7308565 DOI: 10.1264/jsme2.me19140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Biofilm carriers have been used to remove ammonia in several wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Japan. However, the abundance and species of ammonia oxidizers in the biofilms formed on the surface of carriers in full-scale operational WWTP tanks remain unclear. In the present study, we conducted quantitative PCR and PCR cloning of the amoA genes of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (AOB and AOA) and a complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) in the biofilm formed on the carriers in a full-scale WWTP. The quantification of amoA genes showed that the abundance of AOB and comammox was markedly greater in the biofilm than in the activated sludge suspended in a tank solution of the WWTP, while AOA was not detected in the biofilm or the activated sludge. A phylogenetic analysis of amoA genes revealed that as-yet-uncultivated comammox Nitrospira and uncultured AOB Nitrosomonas were predominant in the biofilm. The present results suggest that the biofilm formed on the surface of carriers enable comammox Nitrospira and AOB Nitrosomonas to co-exist and remain in the full-scale WWTP tank surveyed in this study.
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29
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Xu Y, Lu J, Wang Y, Liu G, Wan X, Hua Y, Zhu D, Zhao J. Diversity and abundance of comammox bacteria in the sediments of an urban lake. J Appl Microbiol 2020; 128:1647-1657. [PMID: 31989773 DOI: 10.1111/jam.14593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 01/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Although comammox have been discovered in a variety of ecosystems, there are few studies in urban lakes. This paper attempted to confirm whether this ammonia-oxidizing microbe exists in urban lakes and to determine the factors influencing its existence. METHODS AND RESULTS This study investigated the diversity and abundance of comammox bacteria in sediments of a typical urban lake in China, and their ecological relationship with other ammonia-oxidizing micro-organisms. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that comammox clade A existed in the sediment of Lake Donghu, and the comammox bacteria co-existed with ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria in the sediment of this lake. The abundances of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes for comammox, AOA, AOB and anammox 16S rRNA were 2·43 × 108 , 1·07 × 108 , 3·24 × 107 and 3·21 × 1011 copies per gram dry sediment respectively. Moreover, the amoA gene abundance of comammox was positively correlated with that of AOA and AOB. The redundancy analysis showed that the abundance of the comammox amoA gene was negatively correlated with the concentration of main indicators for nitrogen status in both the sediment and the water column, indicating that eutrophication may inhibit the growth of comammox bacteria. CONCLUSIONS Comammox bacteria play an important ecological role in the nitrogen cycle of urban lake sediments. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY Our results indicated comammox bacteria were widespread in urban lakes and eutrophication may inhibit their growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Xu
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
| | - J Lu
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld, Australia
| | - Y Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, Beijing, China.,Department of Water Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China
| | - G Liu
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
| | - X Wan
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
| | - Y Hua
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
| | - D Zhu
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
| | - J Zhao
- Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Engineering Research of Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, China
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30
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Bartelme RP, Smith MC, Sepulveda-Villet OJ, Newton RJ. Component Microenvironments and System Biogeography Structure Microorganism Distributions in Recirculating Aquaculture and Aquaponic Systems. mSphere 2019; 4:e00143-19. [PMID: 31270175 DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00143-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are agroecosystems for intensive on-land cultivation of products of fisheries. Practitioners that incorporate edible plant production into RAS refer to these facilities as aquaponic systems (AP). RAS have the potential to offset declining production levels of wild global fisheries while reducing waste and product distance to market, but system optimization is needed to reduce costs. Both RAS and AP rely on microbial consortia for maintaining water quality and promoting fish/plant health, but little is known about the microorganisms actually present. This lack of knowledge prevents optimization of designs and operational controls to target the growth of beneficial microbial species or consortia. The significance of our research is in identifying the common microorganisms that inhabit production RAS and AP and the operational factors that influence which microorganisms colonize and become abundant. Identifying these organisms is a first step toward advanced control of microbial activities that improve reproducibility and reduce costs. Flowthrough and pond aquaculture system microbiome management practices aim to mitigate fish disease and stress. However, the operational success of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) depends directly on system microbial community activities. In RAS, each component environment is engineered for a specific microbial niche for waste management, as the water continuously flowing through the system must be processed before returning to the rearing tank. In this study, we compared waste management component microbiomes (rearing tank water, pH correction tank, solid-waste clarifier, biofilter, and degassing tower) within a commercial-scale freshwater RAS by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. To assess consistency among freshwater RAS microbiomes, we also compared the microbial community compositions of six aquaculture and aquaponic farms. Community assemblages reflected site and source water relationships, and the presence of a hydroponic subsystem was a major community determinant. In contrast to the facility-specific community composition, some sequence variants, mainly classified into Flavobacterium, Cetobacterium, the family Sphingomonadaceae, and nitrifying guilds of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and Nitrospira, were common across all facilities. The findings of this study suggest that, independently of system design, core taxa exist across RAS rearing similar fish species but that system design informs the individual aquatic microbiome assemblages. Future RAS design would benefit from understanding the roles of these core taxa and then capitalizing on their activities to further reduce system waste/added operational controls. IMPORTANCE Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are agroecosystems for intensive on-land cultivation of products of fisheries. Practitioners that incorporate edible plant production into RAS refer to these facilities as aquaponic systems (AP). RAS have the potential to offset declining production levels of wild global fisheries while reducing waste and product distance to market, but system optimization is needed to reduce costs. Both RAS and AP rely on microbial consortia for maintaining water quality and promoting fish/plant health, but little is known about the microorganisms actually present. This lack of knowledge prevents optimization of designs and operational controls to target the growth of beneficial microbial species or consortia. The significance of our research is in identifying the common microorganisms that inhabit production RAS and AP and the operational factors that influence which microorganisms colonize and become abundant. Identifying these organisms is a first step toward advanced control of microbial activities that improve reproducibility and reduce costs.
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