title: Microbial community composition of polyhydroxyalkanoate-accumulating organisms in full-scale wastewater treatment plants operated in fully aerobic mode.
abstract: The removal of biodegradable organic matter is one of the most important objectives in biological wastewater treatments. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-accumulating organisms (PHAAOs) significantly contribute to the removal of biodegradable organic matter; however, their microbial community composition is mostly unknown. In the present study, the microbial community composition of PHAAOs was investigated at 8 full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), operated in fully aerobic mode, by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and post-FISH Nile blue A (NBA) staining techniques. Our results demonstrated that 1) PHAAOs were in the range of 11-18% in the total number of cells, and 2) the microbial community composition of PHAAOs was similar at the bacterial domain/phylum/class/order level among the 8 full-scale WWTPs, and dominant PHAAOs were members of the class Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. The microbial community composition of α- and β-proteobacterial PHAAOs was examined by 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis and further by applying a set of newly designed oligonucleotide probes targeting 16S rRNA gene sequences of α- or β-proteobacterial PHAAOs. The results demonstrated that the microbial community composition of PHAAOs differed in the class Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria, which possibly resulted in a different PHA accumulation capacity among the WWTPs (8.5-38.2 mg-C g-VSS(-1) h(-1)). The present study extended the knowledge of the microbial diversity of PHAAOs in full-scale WWTPs operated in fully aerobic mode.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University, Japan. oshiki@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oshiki
authors.forename: Motoharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onuki
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mino
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000378:metabolism*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater