title: Degradation of slime extracellular polymeric substances and inhibited sludge flocs destruction contribute to sludge dewaterability enhancement during fungal treatment of sludge using filamentous fungus Mucor sp. GY-1.
abstract: Mechanisms responsible for the sludge dewaterability enhanced by filamentous fungi during fungal treatment of sludge were investigated in the present study. The filamentous fungus Mucor sp. GY-1, isolated from waste activated sludge, enhanced sludge dewaterability by 82.1% to achieve the lowest value of normalized sludge specific resistance to filtration (SRF), 8.18 × 10(10) m · L/kg · g-TSS. During the fungal treatment of sludge, 57.8% of slime extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and 51.1% of polysaccharide in slime EPS were degraded, respectively, by Mucor sp. GY-1, contributing to the improvement of sludge dewaterability. Slime EPS is much more available for Mucor sp. GY-1 than either LB-EPS or TB-EPS that bound with microbial cells. In addition, filamentous fungus Mucor sp. GY-1 entrapped small sludge particles and inhibited the destruction of sludge flocs larger than 100 μm, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability, during fungal treatment of sludge using Mucor sp. GY-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, Nanjing 210095, China. Electronic address: gyzheng@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guanyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Lixiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D009089:Mucor / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014867:Water; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Filamentous fungus; Slime extracellular polymeric substances; Sludge dewaterability; Sludge flocs