title: (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomics study of earthworm Perionyx excavatus in vermifiltration process.
abstract: In this study, (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics approach was used to characterize the metabolic response of the earthworm Perionyx excavatus in continuous vermifiltration for two months under hydraulic loading rates of 1m(3)m(-2)d(-1) (VF1) and 1.5m(3)m(-2)d(-1) (VF1.5). Both VF1 and VF1.5 showed higher removal of chemical oxygen demand and total nitrogen than the biofilter without earthworms. Principal component analysis of the NMR spectra of earthworm metabolites showed significant separations between those not subjected to wastewater filtration (control) and VF1 or VF1.5. Temporal variations of earthworm biomass, and the identified metabolites that are significantly different between control, VF1 and VF1.5 revealed that worms underwent increasing metabolic activity within 20days in VF1 and 14days in VF1.5, then decreasing metabolic activity. The use of NMR-based metabolomics in monitoring earthworm metabolism was demonstrated to be a novel approach in studying engineered vermifiltration systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xulei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anna Karen Carrasco
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Laserna
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, Singapore; NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), #02-01, T-Lab Building (TL), 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore. Electronic address: chmlifys@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Sam Fong Yau
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D018533:Biomass; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000378:metabolism*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012098:Reproduction; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Earthworm; Metabolomics; NMR; Perionyx excavatus; Vermifiltration