title: Composition and aggregation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in hyperhaline and municipal wastewater treatment plants.
abstract: As important constituents of activated sludge flocs, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play significant roles in pollutants adsorption, the formation and maintenance of microbial aggregates, and the protection of microbes from external environmental stresses. In this work, EPS in activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (M-WWTP) with anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A(2)/O) process and a hyperhaline wastewater treatment plant (H-WWTP) with anaerobic/oxic (A/O) process were extracted by ultrasound method. The proteins and polysaccharides contents in EPS were determined by using a modified Lowry method and anthrone colorimetry respectively to analyze the detail differences in two types of WWTPs. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy demonstrated proteins and polysaccharides were the dominant components of the two types of EPS, and the aromatic protein-like substances accounted for a larger proportion in EPS proteins. The results of the aggregation test indicated that EPS were good for the sludge aggregation, and the EPS in oxic sludge were more beneficial to sludge aggregation than that in anoxic sludge. Anoxic sludge EPS in H-WWTP showed a negligible effect on sludge aggregation. Comparative study on EPS of different tanks in the M-WWTP and H-WWTP was valuable for understanding the characteristics of EPS isolated from two typical wastewater treatment processes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environments of MOE, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environments of MOE, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: You-Peng
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment of CAS, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Song
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environments of MOE, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China.
authors.forename: Ni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region's Eco-Environments of MOE, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D064307:Microbiota; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater