Project description:Manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) are increasingly incorporated into consumer products that are disposed into sewage. In wastewater treatment, MNMs adsorb to activated sludge biomass where they may impact biological wastewater treatment performance, including nutrient removal. Here, we studied MNM effects on bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), specifically polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), biosynthesis because of its importance to enhanced biological phosphorus (P) removal (EBPR). Activated sludge was sampled from an anoxic selector of a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and PHB-containing bacteria were concentrated by density gradient centrifugation. After starvation to decrease intracellular PHB stores, bacteria were nutritionally augmented to promote PHB biosynthesis while being exposed to either MNMs (TiO2 or Ag) or to Ag salts (each at a concentration of 5 mg L-1). Cellular PHB concentration and PhyloChip community composition were analyzed. The final bacterial community composition differed from activated sludge, demonstrating that laboratory enrichment was selective. Still, PHB was synthesized to near-activated sludge levels. Ag salts altered final bacterial communities, although MNMs did not. PHB biosynthesis was diminished with Ag (salt or MNMs), indicating the potential for Ag-MNMs to physiologically impact EBPR through the effects of dissolved Ag ions on PHB producers.
Project description:Manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) are increasingly incorporated into consumer products that are disposed into sewage. In wastewater treatment, MNMs adsorb to activated sludge biomass where they may impact biological wastewater treatment performance, including nutrient removal. Here, we studied MNM effects on bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), specifically polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), biosynthesis because of its importance to enhanced biological phosphorus (P) removal (EBPR). Activated sludge was sampled from an anoxic selector of a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and PHB-containing bacteria were concentrated by density gradient centrifugation. After starvation to decrease intracellular PHB stores, bacteria were nutritionally augmented to promote PHB biosynthesis while being exposed to either MNMs (TiO2 or Ag) or to Ag salts (each at a concentration of 5 mg L-1). Cellular PHB concentration and PhyloChip community composition were analyzed. The final bacterial community composition differed from activated sludge, demonstrating that laboratory enrichment was selective. Still, PHB was synthesized to near-activated sludge levels. Ag salts altered final bacterial communities, although MNMs did not. PHB biosynthesis was diminished with Ag (salt or MNMs), indicating the potential for Ag-MNMs to physiologically impact EBPR through the effects of dissolved Ag ions on PHB producers. 18 samples; Triplicate PHB-enriched bacterial communities recovered from activated sludge were exposed to nanoparticle (TiO2 or Ag) or AgNO3 (as a silver control) or were not exposed to an nanoparticles (control) to determine if the naoparticles affected PHB production.
Project description:To understand microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the effects of environmental factors on their structure, 12 activated sludge samples were collected from four WWTPs in Beijing. GeoChip 4.2 was used to determine the microbial functional genes involved in a variety of biogeochemical processes. The results showed that, for each gene category, such as egl, amyA, nir, ppx, dsrA sox and benAB, there were a number of microorganisms shared by all 12 samples, suggestive of the presence of a core microbial community in the activated sludge of four WWTPs. Variance partitioning analyses (VPA) showed that a total of 53% of microbial community variation can be explained by wastewater characteristics (25%) and operational parameters (23%), respectively. This study provided an overall picture of microbial community functional structures of activated sludge in WWTPs and discerned the linkages between microbial communities and environmental variables in WWTPs. Four full-scale wastewater treatment systems located in Beijing were investigated. Triplicate samples were collected in each site.