title: Effect of the chemical composition of filter media on the microbial community in wastewater biofilms at different temperatures.
abstract: This study investigates the microbial community composition in the biofilms grown on two different support media in fixed biofilm reactors for aerobic wastewater treatment, using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The chemical composition of the new type of support medium (TDR) was found to be quite different from the conventionally used support medium (stone). The analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragments recovered from the laboratory scale biofilm system show that biofilm support media and temperature conditions influence bacterial community structure and composition. Greater bacterial diversity was observed under each condition, primarily due to the large number of sequences available and sustenance of rare species. There were 6 phyla found, with the highest relative abundance shown by the phylumProteobacteria(52.71%) followed byBacteroidetes(33.33%),Actinobacteria(4.65%),Firmicutes,Verrucomicrobia(3.1%) andChloroflex(>1%). The dataset showed 17 genera of bacterial populations to be commonly shared under all conditions, suggesting the presence of a core microbial community in the biofilms for wastewater treatment. However, some genera in the biofilms on TDR were observed in high proportions, which may be attributed to its chemical composition, explaining the improved level of wastewater treatment. The findings show that the structure of microbial communities in biofilm systems for wastewater treatment is affected by the properties of support matrix.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK. Email: d.saroj@surrey.ac.uk; Department of Biology, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan; Department of Microbial Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.
authors.forename: Iffat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Naz
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3XQ, UK.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3XQ, UK; Centre for Digestive and Gut Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UK.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marchesi
authors.affiliation: Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Safia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1625-6487
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avignone-Rossa
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK. Email: d.saroj@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Devendra P
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5814-9818
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Saroj