title: Molecular characterization of microbial populations in full-scale biofilters treating iron, manganese and ammonia containing groundwater in Harbin, China.
abstract: In iron and manganese-containing groundwater treatment for drinking water production, biological filter is an effective process to remove such pollutants. Until now the exact microbial mechanism of iron and manganese removal, especially coupled with other pollutants, such as ammonia, has not been clearly understood. To assess this issue, the performance of a full-scale biofilter located in Harbin, China was monitored over four months. Microbial populations in the biofilter were investigated using T-RFLP and clone library technique. Results suggested that Gallionella, Leptothrix, Nitrospira, Hyphomicrobium and Pseudomonas are dominant in the biofilter and play major roles in the removal of iron, manganese and ammonia. The spatial distribution of microbial populations along the depth of the biofilter demonstrated the stratification of the removal of iron, manganese and ammonia. Additionally, the absence of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the biofilter implicated that ammonia-oxidizing archaea might be responsible for the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: xkli312@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiang-Kun
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-Rui
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: China Aerospace Construction Group Limited Company, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Ting
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: ryan_czr@foxmail.com.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D008345:Manganese / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008345:Manganese; D000641:Ammonia; D007501:Iron
keywords: Full-scale biofilter; Groundwater; Microbial population; Simultaneous removal of iron, manganese and ammonia