title: Municipal landfill leachate nitrification in RBC biofilm - process efficiency and molecular analysis of microbial structure.
abstract: Landfill leachates were treated using a two-stage rotating biological contactor (RBC). At an ammonium load of 1.92gN-NH(4)/m(2)d, complete nitrification was obtained at the first stage; however, at a higher load (3.6gN-NH(4)/m(2)d) a two-stage system was needed to obtain complete nitrification. A further increase in the ammonium load to 4.79gN-NH(4)/m(2)d and 6.63gN-NH(4)/m(2)d caused a decrease of overall nitrification efficiency to 74.4% and 71.6%, respectively. Randomly amplified DNA analysis of bacteria present in the RBC revealed that the bacterial community differed over time. Regardless of the ammonium load, Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosomonas eutropha were the dominating species. The performed analyses provide a clear picture of bacterial population changes in response to changes of ammonium load during landfill leachate treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45 G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland. dorotak@uwm.edu.pl
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kulikowska
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jóźwiak
authors.forename: Przemysław
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kowal
authors.forename: Sławomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciesielski
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D018441:Biofilms; D017931:DNA Primers; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D009606:Nitrosomonas / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012037:Refuse Disposal
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen