Microbial Community Comparison of Different Biological Processes for Treating the Same Sewage

Author： Liu Xin-Chun Yang Min Zhang Yu Yang Xiang-Ping Gan Yi-Ping

ISSN： 0959-3993

Source： World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol.23, Iss.1, 2007-01, pp. : 135-143

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

The microbial communities, including ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB), eubacterial, actinomycetic and yeast communities, were investigated in two different systems by PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) using amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments of bacteria and 26S rRNA gene fragments of yeast. The two systems, which used an anoxic-anaerobic-aerobic process (A₂O) and an anoxic-aerobic process (AO), respectively, received identical sewage, operated under the same conditions and demonstrated similar treatment performance. The AOB communities of the two systems showed almost identical structures corresponding to similar ammonium removal, while bacterial, actinomycetic and yeast communities demonstrated obvious differences. The A₂O system showed richer eubacterial, actinomycetic and yeast communities than the AO system. FISH results showed that the AOB cells in the A₂O system made up 3.6 ± 0.2% of the total bacterial population, while those in the AO system accounted for 1.9 ± 0.2%. Thus the existence of an anaerobic environment in the A₂O system resulted in a marked increase in biodiversity.