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Updated: Aug 29, 2025

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
The nitrogen removal performance and microbial community on mixotrophic denitrification process
Shaohong Zheng1, Xiangyin Liu1, Xiangjing Yang1
1School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
Adding sulfide enhanced denitrification by altering microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems. Specific genera like Thauera and Thiobacillus thrived, improving nitrogen removal efficiency.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Water Quality Management
Background:
- Aquatic ecosystems harbor sulfur autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrifiers.
- The impact of sulfide on microbial community structure in mixotrophic denitrification remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of varying carbon/nitrogen/sulfur (C/N/S) molar ratios on denitrification performance.
- To explore the response of the microbial community structure to sulfide addition in a mixotrophic system.
Main Methods:
- Manipulating influent C/N/S molar ratios.
- Analyzing microbial community structure at the genus level.
- Assessing denitrification performance.
Main Results:
- Efficient denitrification was achieved through the synergistic action of genera including Thauera, Pacacoccus, Fusibacter, Pseudoxanthomonas, Thiobacillus, Sulfurovum, and Sulfurimonas.
- Thauera abundance increased from 0.97% to over 13%.
- Thiobacillus and Sulfurimonas showed relative abundances of approximately 4.14% and 3.89% after sulfide addition.
Conclusions:
- Denitrification performance can be significantly intensified in mixotrophic systems.
- This study provides a theoretical foundation for developing efficient biological nitrogen removal systems.
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