Shifts in the Microbial Community, Nitrifiers and
Denitrifiers in the Biofilm in a Full-scale Rotating Biological Contactor
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Abstract
The objective of this study was to
investigate the microbial community
shifts, especially nitrifiers and denitrifiers, in the biofilm of
two rotating biological contactor (RBC) trains with different running
times along the plug flowpath. The microbial consortia were profiled
using multiple approaches, including 454 high-throughput sequencing
of the V3–V4 region of 16S rRNA gene, clone libraries, and
quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The results demonstrated
that (1) the overall microbial community at different locations had
distinct patterns, that is, there were similar microbial communities
at the beginnings of the two RBC trains and completely different populations
at the ends of the two RBC trains; (2) nitrifiers, including ammonia-oxidizing
archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB, <i>Nitrosomonas</i>) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB, <i>Nitrospira</i>), increased in relative abundance in the biofilm along the flowpath,
whereas denitrifiers (<i>Rhodanobacter, Paracoccus</i>, <i>Thauera</i>, and <i>Azoarcus</i>) markedly decreased;
(3) the AOA were subdominant to the AOB in all sampled sections; and
(4) strong ecological associations were shown among different bacteria.
Overall, the results of this study provided more comprehensive information
regarding the biofilm community composition and assemblies in full-scale
RBCs