title: Bacterial community dynamics in long-term operation of a pilot plant using aerobic granular sludge to treat pig slurry.
abstract: Aerobic granular sludge represents an interesting approach for simultaneous organic matter and nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment plants. However, the information about microbial communities in aerobic granular systems dealing with industrial wastewater like pig slurry is limited. Herein, bacterial diversity and dynamics were assessed in a pilot scale plant using aerobic granular sludge for organic matter and nitrogen elimination from swine slurry during more than 300 days. Results indicated that bacterial composition evolved throughout the operational period from flocculent activated sludge, used as inoculum, to mature aerobic granules. Bacterial diversity increased at the beginning of the granulation process and then declined due to the application of transient organic matter and nitrogen loads. The operational conditions of the pilot plant and the degree of granulation determined the microbial community of the aerobic granules. Brachymonas, Zoogloea and Thauera were attributed with structural function as they are able to produce extracellular polymeric substances to maintain the granular structure. Nitrogen removal was justified by partial nitrification (Nitrosomonas) and denitrification (Thauera and Zoogloea), while Comamonas was identified as the main organic matter oxidizing bacteria. Overall, clear links between bacterial dynamics and composition with process performance were found and will help to predict their biological functions in wastewater ecosystems improving the future control of the process. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1212-1221, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain. andrea.fra@usc.es.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fra-Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Val Del Río
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Regueiro
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Avda. Padre Hurtado 750, Viña del Mar, Chile.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Group of Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses, Inst. of Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15705, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mosquera-Corral
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D054712:Salinity; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
keywords: aerobic process; applied microbiology; bacterial diversity; granular sludge; wastewater treatment