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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
Construction of an electro-assisted microalgal-bacterial consortium system under gradient salinity acclimation:
Xunhao Liu1, Qian Zhang2, Hongyu Wang3
1School of Civil Engineering & Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Abstract:
To achieve efficient nitrogen removal from mariculture wastewater, this study developed an electro-assisted microalgal-bacterial consortium (MBC) system under salinity-acclimated conditions. Compared with a conventional activated sludge (AS) system, the MBC system improved total nitrogen (TN) removal by 11.83% on average. Integrated analyses showed that microalgae enhanced the structural integrity and stability of both sludge and biofilm phases. Microbial diversity was significantly higher in the MBC system, accompanied by a 13.7% increase in cooperative interactions and a 5.76% rise in specialist taxa. While electro-stimulation reduced deterministic assembly in the AS system, it increased deterministic selection in the MBC system, indicating that microalgae reinforced niche-based selection to stabilize core microbial communities. Moreover, microalgae enriched keystone taxa, which strengthened system-wide stability and resource-use efficiency. These findings deepen the mechanistic understanding of microalgae-driven microbial assembly and provide a basis for targeted community engineering in mariculture wastewater treatment.
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