System Performance Corresponding to Bacterial Community Succession after a Disturbance in an Autotrophic Nitrogen Removal Bioreactor
Abstract
Performance of a bioreactor is affected by complex microbial consortia that regulate system functional processes. Studies so far, however, have mainly emphasized the selective pressures imposed by operational conditions (i.e., deterministic external physicochemical variables) on the microbial community as well as system performance, but have overlooked direct effects of the microbial community on system functioning. Here, using a bioreactor with ammonium as the sole substrate under controlled operational settings as a model system, we investigated succession of the bacterial community after a disturbance and its impact on nitrification and anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) processes with fine-resolution time series data. System performance was quantified as the ratio of the fed ammonium converted to anammox-derived nitrogen gas (N2) versus nitrification-derived nitrate (npNO3-). After the disturbance, the N2/npNO3- ratio first decreased, then recovered, and finally stabilized until the end. Importantly, the dynamics of N2/npNO3- could not be fully explained by physicochemical variables of the system. In comparison, the proportion of variation that could be explained substantially increased (tripled) when the changes in bac...Continue Reading
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Bioreactors (ASM)
Bioreactors are important devices or systems that utilize living cells or enzymes for a chemical process. These devices carefully control and monitor the environment factors such as pH, nutrients level, and temperature, which can affect the yield in a given process. Discover the latest research here.