Metatranscriptomic analysis reveals synergistic activities of comammox and anammox bacteria in full-scale attached growth nitrogen removal system

Abstract

0-AbstractLeveraging comammoxNitrospiraand anammox bacteria for shortcut nitrogen removal can drastically lower the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment facilities by decreasing aeration energy, carbon, alkalinity, and tank volume requirements while also potentially reducing nitrous oxide emissions. However, their co-occurrence as dominant nitrifying bacteria is rarely reported in full-scale wastewater treatment. As a result, there is poor understanding of how operational parameters, in particular dissolved oxygen, impact their activity and synergistic behavior. Here, we report the impact of dissolved oxygen concentration (DO = 2, 4, 6 mg/L) on the microbial community’s transcriptomic expression in a full-scale integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) municipal wastewater treatment facility predominantly performed by comammoxNitrospiraand anammox bacterial populations. 16S rRNA transcript compositions revealed anammox bacteria andNitrospirawere significantly more active in IFAS biofilms compared to suspended sludge biomass. In IFAS biofilms, anammox bacteria significantly increasedhzoexpression at lower dissolved oxygen concentrations and this increase was highly correlated with theamoAexpression levels of comammox bacteria. Interestingly, the genes involved in nitrite oxidation by comammox bacteria were significantly more upregulated relative to the genes involved in ammonia oxidation with decreasing dissolved oxygen concentrations. Ultimately, our findings suggest that comammoxNitrospirasupply anammox bacteria with nitrite via ammonia oxidation and that this synergistic behavior is dependent on dissolved oxygen concentrations.SynopsisComammox bacteria differentially regulate ammonia and nitrite oxidation in response to dissolved oxygen concentration suggesting dissolved oxygen dependence of their synergistic nitrogen removal with anammox bacteria in IFAS biofilms.