[Community Structure and Influencing Factors of Bacterioplankton in Spring in Zhushan Bay, Lake Taihu].

In order to investigate the characteristics of bacterioplankton in the spring in Zhushan Bay, Lake Taihu, the 16S rRNA gene of the bacterioplankton at four sampling sites in Zhushan Bay was sequenced by high-throughput sequencing using water samples collected from Yapugang, Shatanggang, Zhushanhunan, and Jiaoshan. The results showed that the coverage of the sequencing library was very high and could accurately represent the bacterioplankton community in the samples. The species richness of Jiaoshan was the highest, but the species evenness was lower. Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phylum in Zhushan Bay. The average abundance of Cyanobacteria was as high as 64.73%, which indicated an outbreak of cyanobacteria bloom in the water. At the genus level, Anabaena, hgcI_clade, CL 500-29 _marine_group, Microcystis, Synechococcus, and Mycobacterium were predominant. The results of redundancy analysis (RDA) for the relationship between bacterioplankton and environmental factors showed that water temperature, chlorophyll a (Chl-a), ammonia nitrogen(NH4+-N), dissolved oxygen (DO), and phosphate (PO43--P)were the main environmental factors affecting the bacterioplankton community. Dissolved oxygen could significantly affect Microcystis; nutrient and water temperature also had an effect.

Cell membrane characteristics and microbial population distribution of MBBR and IFAS with different dissolved oxygen concentration.

This paper investigated the influences of different dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration (0.71-1.32, 2.13-3.02 and 4.31-5.16 mg/L) on cell membrane characteristics and microbial population distribution of moving biofilm reactors. Two representative reactors, i.e., moving bed biofilm reactors and integrated fixed-film activated sludge were operated. Results indicated that both DO concentration of 0.71-1.32 mg/L and 4.31-5.16 mg/L could increase membrane lipid mobile fraction (49.4%-67.4%) of the microbes, however, through prompting the synthesis of branched fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids, respectively. For the biofilms, the abundance of Bacteroidetes decreased and Actinobacteria increased with the increase of DO levels. The lowest EfOM content and the highest microbial diversities (1.14-1.52) was observed at DO of 2.13-3.02 mg/L. Redundancy analysis showed that changes of DO levels could alter cell membrane properties and bacterial community structures, and subsequently significantly influenced effluent organic matter composition of moving biofilm reactors.

Effects of DO levels on surface force, cell membrane properties and microbial community dynamics of activated sludge.

In this paper, we employ atomic force microscopy (AFM), fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) technique, phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and MiSeq analysis to study the effects of traditional dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (0.71-1.32mg/L, 2.13-3.02mg/L and 4.31-5.16mg/L) on surface force, cell membrane properties and microbial community dynamics of activated sludge. Results showed that low DO level enhanced the surface force and roughness of activated sludge; the medium DO level decreased cell membrane fluidity by reducing the synthesis of branched fatty acids in the cell membrane; high DO level resulted in the highest protein content in the effluent by EEM scanning. Abundance of Micropruina, Zoogloea and Nakamurella increased and Paracoccus and Rudaea decreased with the increase of DO levels. RDA analysis suggested that saturated fatty acids (SFA), anteiso-fatty acids (AFA) and iso-fatty acids (IFA) were closely related to effluent quality as well as some genera.

Effect of low temperature on highly unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in activated sludge.

Low temperature is a limiting factor for the microbial activity of activated sludge for sewage treatment plant in winter. Highly unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) biosynthesis, phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) constituents and microbial structure in activated sludge at low temperature were investigated. Over 12 gigabases of metagenomic sequence data were generated with the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. The result showed 43.11% of phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) in the activated sludge participated in UFA biosynthesis, and γ-Linolenic could be converted to Arachidonic acid at low temperature. The highly UFA biosynthesis in activated sludge was n-6 highly UFA biosynthesis, rather than n-3 highly UFA biosynthesis. The microbial community structures of activated sludge were analyzed by PLFA and high-throughput sequencing (HiSeq) simultaneously. Acidovorax, Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium and Polaromonas occupied higher percentage at 5°C, and genetic changes of highly UFA biosynthesis derived from microbial community structures change.

Preconditioning of model biocarriers by soluble pollutants: a QCM-D study.

Preconditioning of a biocarrier surface is the first step in triggering biofilm formation in attached-growth bioreactors. However, the quantification and control of this step as influenced by solution conditions and biocarrier properties have been rarely explored. In this paper, deposition behaviors of soluble pollutants on the model biocarriers polystyrene (PS) and polyamide (PA) were performed using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Three types of wastewater from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and 12 synthetic wastewaters with different configurations of model macromolecules (bovine serum albumin and sodium alginate) and ionic compositions (Na(+) and Ca(2+)) were prepared. Results showed that high organic contents (protein and humic acid) in real wastewater increased deposition compared to the impact of ions on the two types of carriers. For synthetic wastewater, an interesting phenomenon was observed in that the presence of Ca(2+) can transform a thin and rigid adlayer into a denser and viscoelastic one on the surface of PS with low organic contents, yet a viscoelastic adlayer can directly form on PS and an increase in the ionic strength hinders deposition in the presence of high organic contents. The deposition of solutes on PA produces a thicker and viscoelastic adlayer that is strengthened an elevated concentration of organic materials. Additionally, a weakening effect of Ca(2+) on deposition was revealed under high ionic strength. This is the first demonstration of control strategies for preconditioning hydrophilic and hydrophobic biocarriers under different water quality conditions and has important implications for the design of a start-up process for biofilm formation in attached-growth bioreactors.

Physicochemical characteristics and microbial community evolution of biofilms during the start-up period in a moving bed biofilm reactor.

This study aimed to investigate biofilm properties evolution coupled with different ages during the start-up period in a moving bed biofilm reactor system. Physicochemical characteristics including adhesion force, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), morphology as well as volatile solid and microbial community were studied. Results showed that the formation and development of biofilms exhibited four stages, including (I) initial attachment and young biofilm formation, (II) biofilms accumulation, (III) biofilm sloughing and updating, and (IV) biofilm maturation. During the whole start-up period, adhesion force was positively and significantly correlated with the contents of EPS, especially the content of polysaccharide. In addition, increased adhesion force and EPS were beneficial for biofilm retention. Gram-negative bacteria mainly including Sphaerotilus, Zoogloea and Haliscomenobacter were predominant in the initial stage. Actinobacteria was beneficial to resist sloughing. Furthermore, filamentous bacteria were dominant in maturation biofilm.

[Effects of free-air CO2 enrichment on phosphine emission from rice field].

Phosphine, a trace gas, has been proved to commonly exist in environment. Under free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) condition, the phosphine fluxes were investigated on the function of different nitrogen fertilizer application, NN (normal N, 250 kg/hm2) and LN (low N, 125 kg/hm2). Results showed that phosphine fluxes and concentrations in flourishing stages, both tillering stage and elongation stage, were higher than in slowly growing stages. The highest phosphine flux of (155.2 +/- 22.71) ng/(m2 x h) was observed in tillering stage in NN zone of the FACE area. The highest average phosphine flux of (41.72 +/- 7.006) ng/(m2 x h) was observed in NN zone of FACE area, while the lowest average phosphine flux of (- 1.485 +/- 6.229) ng/(m2 x h) could be detected in LN zone of the ambient area. CO2 enrichment can obviously improve the phospine emission. The nitrogen fertilizing level doesn't play an important role in phosphine emission. Both net fluxes and concentrations of phosphine had obviously positive correlation with temperature. A one-day phosphine flux and concentration experiment was carried out in ripening stage. The result showed that light was the prominent factor influencing phosphine concentration in daytime.

[Distribution of phosphine and microorganisms in partial sediments of Lake Taihu].

Phosphine in Lake Taihu sediment cores were monitored by a GC/NPD method, coupled with cryo-trapping enrichment technology. Results show that phosphine is universally detected in sediment cores, its concentration ranges from 0.15 ng/kg to 36.1 ng/kg. The concentration of phosphine varies with different sampling sites and depths. Representative microorganisms (aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, actinomycete, inorganic phosphobacteria and organic phosphobacteria) in surface sediments were also identified. The amount and distribution of microorganisms positively correlate with different contamination and salty levels of the samples. A markedly positive linear correlation between the concentration of phosphine and the numbers of inorganic phosphobacteria could be observed (R2 = 0.817, n = 6). There is not a correlation between phosphine level and organic phosphobacteria quantities.