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Updated: Oct 2, 2025

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
COD/TN ratios shift the microbial community assembly of a pilot-scale shortcut nitrification-denitrification process
Yangwu Chen1,2, Huan Wang3, Xingdong Gao1,2
1CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Abstract:
In this study, effects of carbon to nitrogen (COD/TN) ratios of biogas slurry on shortcut nitrification-denitrification in a pilot-scale integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) system were investigated. Lowering the COD/TN ratio from 11.7 to 6.2 exerted a negative impact on shortcut nitrification-denitrification performance. Accordingly, the NH3-N and TN removal rates decreased from 94.4 to 91.2% and 92.3 to 85.9%, respectively. The dynamics of microbial assembly was analyzed by MiSeq sequencing, and the denitrifying functional genes were quantified by qPCR. The results showed that ammonia oxidizing bacteria and amoA gene were more abundant on the biofilm of oxic tank, indicating they play a key role in NH3-N removal. Autotrophic, endogenous, and fast heterotrophic kinetics denitrifiers were coexisted and enriched in the IFAS system with a decreasing of COD/TN ratio. TN removal was mainly affected by denitrifiers (including Arenimonas, Acidovorax, and Thaurea) harboring narG and nirS genes. Canonical correspondence analysis proved that COD/TN ratio was the most critical factor driving the succession of microbial community. Dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were found positively correlated with denitrifiers at low COD/TN ratio conditions. As a result, NH3-N and TN removal were effectively enhanced when the DO level in the oxic tank of IFAS system was increased to 1.0-3.0 mg/L.
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