Micropollutant Biotransformation
Kinetics Associate
with WWTP Process Parameters and Microbial Community Characteristics
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Abstract
The objective of this work was to identify relevant wastewater
treatment plant (WWTP) parameters and underlying microbial processes
that influence the biotransformation of a diverse set of micropollutants.
To do this, we determined biotransformation rate constants for ten
organic micropollutants in batch reactors seeded with activated sludge
from ten diverse WWTPs. The estimated biotransformation rate constants
for each compound ranged between one and four orders of magnitude
among the ten WWTPs. The biotransformation rate constants were tested
for statistical associations with various WWTP process parameters, <i>amoA</i> transcript abundance, and acetylene-inhibited monooxygenase
activity. We determined that (i) ammonia removal associates with oxidative
micropollutant biotransformation reaction rates; (ii) archaeal but
not bacterial <i>amoA</i> transcripts associate with both
ammonia removal and oxidative micropollutant biotransformation reaction
rates; and (iii) the activity of acetylene-inhibited monooxygenases
(including ammonia monooxygenase) associates with ammonia removal
and the biotransformation rate of isoproturon, but does not associate
with all oxidative micropollutant biotransformations. In combination,
these results lead to the conclusion that ammonia removal and <i>amoA</i> transcript abundance can potentially be predictors
of oxidative micropollutant biotransformation reactions, but that
the biochemical mechanism is not necessarily linked to ammonia monooxygenase
activity