Biotransformation of pink water TNT on the surface of a low-cost adsorbent pine bark.

This two-week anaerobic batch study evaluated 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) removal efficiency from industrial pink water by (1) adsorption on low-cost adsorbent pine bark, and (2) adsorption coupled with TNT biotransformation by specialised microbial communities. Samples of the supernatant and acetonitrile extracts of pine bark were analysed by HPLC, while the composition of the bacterial community of the experimental batches, inocula and pine bark were profiled by high-throughput sequencing the V6 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Integrated adsorption and biotransformation proved to be the most efficient method for TNT removal from pink water. The type of applied inoculum had a profound effect on TNT removal efficiencies and microbial community structures, which were dominated by phylotypes belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. The analysis of acetonitrile extracts of pine bark supported the hypothesis that the microbial community indigenous to pine bark has the ability to degrade TNT.

Effect of lake water on algal biomass and microbial community structure in municipal wastewater-based lab-scale photobioreactors.

Photobioreactors are a novel environmental technology that can produce biofuels with the simultaneous removal of nutrients and pollutants from wastewaters. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of lake water inoculation on the production of algal biomass and phylogenetic and functional structure of the algal and bacterial communities in municipal wastewater-treating lab-scale photobioreactors. Inoculating the reactors with lake water had a significant benefit to the overall algal biomass growth and nutrient reduction in the reactors with wastewater and lake water (ratio 70/30 v/v). The metagenome-based survey showed that the most abundant algal phylum in these reactors was Chlorophyta with Scenedesmus being the most prominent genus. The most abundant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes with most dominant families being Sphingobacteriaceae, Cytophagaceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Comamonadaceae, Planctomycetaceae, Nocardiaceae and Nostocaceae. These photobioreactors were also effective in reducing the overall amount of pathogens in wastewater compared to reactors with wastewater/tap water mixture. Functional analysis of the photobioreactor metagenomes revealed an increase in relative abundance genes related to photosynthesis, synthesis of vitamins important for auxotrophic algae and decrease in virulence and nitrogen metabolism subsystems in lake water reactors. The results of the study indicate that adding lake water to the wastewater-based photobioreactor leads to an altered bacterial community phylogenetic and functional structure that could be linked to higher algal biomass production, as well as to enhanced nutrient and pathogen reduction in these reactors.