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Community Composition and Function of Bacteria in Activated Sludge of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants
Summary
Researchers analyzed the bacterial communities in activated sludge from two municipal wastewater treatment plants in Shenzhen, China, using gene sequencing. They found that Proteobacteria dominated all samples and that nutrient levels and nitrogen compounds were the primary factors shaping microbial community structure. The study provides insights into how microbial communities function during wastewater treatment, which is relevant since these systems are known to both encounter and discharge microplastics.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) use functional microorganisms in activated sludge (AS) to reduce the environmental threat posed by wastewater. In this study, Illumina NovaSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA genes was performed to explore the microbial communities of AS at different stages of the two WWTP projects in Shenzhen, China. Results showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Nitrospirae were the dominant phyla in all the samples, with Proteobacteria being the most abundant and reaching a maximum proportion of 59.63%. There was no significant difference in biodiversity between the two water plants, but Stage 1 and Stage 2 were significantly different. The Mantel test indicated that nitrate, total nitrogen (TN), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and nutrients were essential factors affecting the bacterial community structure. FAPROTAX analysis emphasized that the leading functional gene families include nitrification, aerobic nitrite oxidation, human pathogens, and phototrophy. This study reveals changes in the community structure of AS in different treatment units of Banxuegang WWTP, which can help engineers to optimize the wastewater treatment process.
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