title: Community dynamics of denitrifying bacteria in full-scale wastewater treatment plants.
abstract: Effective and stable nitrogen removal from wastewater requires abundant and active denitrifying populations. In this study, a one-year investigation of the population dynamics of phylogenetic groups known to harbor nitrate reducers was conducted in three municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The bacterial community composition was determined by amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, and putative nitrate reducers were identified by sequencing narG and napA genes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization with oligonucleotide probes targeting known nitrate reducers in wastewater revealed that certain bacteria predominated in the WWTPs: Curvibacter-related bacteria, Comamonadaceae, Azoarcus, Thauera, Dechloromonas, and Candidatus Accumulibacter within Rhodocyclaceae. The data showed high diversity in the nitrate-reducing community and a large degree of redundancy, with a relatively stable core group of bacteria in each plant that ensured small yearly variation in nitrate reduction rates.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Biotechnology , University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn , Olsztyn , Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zielińska
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Biotechnology , University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn , Olsztyn , Poland.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rusanowska
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Biotechnology , University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn , Olsztyn , Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jarząbek
authors.affiliation: b Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience , Aalborg University , Aalborg , Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeppe Lund
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D058440:Denitrification; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Full-scale WWTP; activated sludge; denitrification; denitrifiers