Project description:In this study, we exposed Caenorhabditis elegans wild types N2 to water collected from six sources in the Dutch village Sneek. The sources were: wastewater from a hospital, a community (80 households), a nursing home, influent into the local municipal wastewater treatment plant, effluent of the wastewater treatment plant, and surface water samples. The goal of the experiment was to determine if C. elegans can be used to identify pollutants in the water by transcriptional profiling. Age synchronized worms at developmental L4 larval stage were exposed to treatment for 24 hours. After flash freezing the samples, RNA was isolated, labeled and hybridized on oligo microarray (Agilent) slides.
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.
2014-12-03 | GSE63781 | GEO
Project description:Metageonome of Hospital wastewater
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:Characterization of microbial communities at the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels, with a special interest on lipid accumulating bacterial populations, which are naturally enriched in biological wastewater treatment systems and may be harnessed for the conversion of mixed lipid substrates (wastewater) into biodiesel. The project aims to elucidate the genetic blueprints and the functional relevance of specific populations within the community. It focuses on within-population genetic and functional heterogeneity, trying to understand how fine-scale variations contribute to differing lipid accumulating phenotypes. Insights from this project will contribute to the understanding the functioning of microbial ecosystems, and improve optimization and modeling strategies for current and future biological wastewater treatment processes. This project contains datasets derived from the same biological wastewater treatment plant. The data includes metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, metaproteomes and organisms isolated in pure cultures. Characterization of microbial communities at the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels, with a special interest on lipid accumulating bacterial populations, which are naturally enriched in biological wastewater treatment systems and may be harnessed for the conversion of mixed lipid substrates (wastewater) into biodiesel. The project aims to elucidate the genetic blueprints and the functional relevance of specific populations within the community. It focuses on within-population genetic and functional heterogeneity, trying to understand how fine-scale variations contribute to differing lipid accumulating phenotypes. Insights from this project will contribute to the understanding the functioning of microbial ecosystems, and improve optimization and modeling strategies for current and future biological wastewater treatment processes. This project contains datasets derived from the same biological wastewater treatment plant. The data includes metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, metaproteomes and organisms isolated in pure cultures.
Project description:The ability of Microlunatus phosphovorus to accumulate large amounts of polyphosphate (Poly-P) plays an important role in removing soluble phosphorus from wastewater. Our analyses indicate that Microlunatus phosphovorus accumulates Poly-P under aerobic conditions but releases phosphorus under anaerobic conditions. To determine the mechanisms underlying Poly-P metabolism, we compared transcriptional profiles under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Significant differences were detected in the expression levels of genes associated with Poly-P metabolism between aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These findings enhance our understanding of phosphate metabolism in a major bacterial species involved in wastewater phosphorus reduction.