Sulfur-based mixotrophic denitrification corresponding to different electron donors and microbial profiling in anoxic...

Sulfur-based mixotrophic denitrifying anoxic fluidized bed membrane bioreactors (AnFB-MBR) were developed for the treatment of nitrate-contaminated groundwater with minimized sulfate production. The nitrate removal rates obtained in the methanol- and ethanol-fed mixotrophic denitrifying AnFB-MBRs reached 1.44-3.84 g NO3 -N/L reactor d at a hydraulic retention time of 0.5 h, which were significantly superior to those reported in packed bed reactors. Compared to methanol, ethanol was found to be a more effective external carbon source for sulfur-based mixotrophic denitrification due to lower sulfate and total organic carbon concentrations in the effluent. Using pyrosequencing, the phylotypes of primary microbial groups in the reactor, including sulfur-oxidizing autotrophic denitrifiers, methanol- or ethanol-supported heterotrophic denitrifiers, were investigated in response to changes in electron donors. Principal component and heatmap analyses indicated that selection of electron donating substrates largely determined the microbial community structure. The abundance of Thiobacillus decreased from 45.1% in the sulfur-oxidizing autotrophic denitrifying reactor to 12.0% and 14.2% in sulfur-based methanol- and ethanol-fed mixotrophic denitrifying bioreactors, respectively. Heterotrophic Methyloversatilis and Thauera bacteria became more dominant in the mixotrophic denitrifying bioreactors, which were possibly responsible for the observed methanol- and ethanol-associated denitrification.