title: Microbial community structure and metabolic property of biofilms in vermifiltration for liquid-state sludge stabilization using PLFA profiles.
abstract: To investigate effects of earthworms on microbial community structure and metabolic properties of biofilms in vermifiltration for liquid-state sludge stabilization, a vermifilter (VF) with earthworms and a conventional biofilter (BF) without earthworms were compared. The Shannon index of fungi in VF was 16% higher than that in BF, which indicated earthworm activities significantly enhanced fungi diversity. The ratio of monounsaturated to saturated (mono:sat) PLFAs of VF biofilms was higher than that of BF biofilms, which indicated the physiological and nutritional stress for microbial community in VF was relieved due to the increasing of soluble substances caused by the earthworm ingestion. Further investigation showed that the burrowing action of earthworms promoted the aeration condition and led to aerobic microorganisms were predominant in VF. Those results indicated earthworms improved microbial community structure and metabolic properties of biofilms and thus resulted in the overall optimization of the vermifiltration system for liquid-state sludge stabilization.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Meiyan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yongsen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Baoyi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lv
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D044822:Biodiversity; D018441:Biofilms; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000378:metabolism*; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D014835:Volatilization; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids; D012722:Sewage; D010088:Oxidoreductases
keywords: Metabolic property; Microbial activity; Microbial community diversity; Phospholipid fatty acid; Sludge vermiconversion