Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a sewage treatment configuration applied to activated sludge systems for the removal of phosphate. Metagenomics sequencing is a reliable technique used to characterize taxonomic diversity and function of microbial communities without cultivation of microorganisms in a laboratory environment. In this study microbial community composition and functions related to macromolecule biosynthesis and degradation, such as polyphosphate accumulation, glycogen accumulation, and polyhydroxyalkanoate synthesis and metabolism were investigated via metagenomic and amplicon sequencing. The metagenome-assisted genomes (MAGs) of putative phosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) and glycogen accumulation organisms (GAO) were retrieved. Functional annotation of the metagenomic bins confirmed presence of key genes related to EBPR activity, such as polyphosphate kinase gene (ppk1), inorganic phosphate transporter (pit), and phosphate specific transport (pst), as well as the presence of key genes for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) metabolism such as that encoding for PHA depolymerase (phaZ). In addition, high quality metagenomic bins classified as Chitinophaga and Cytophaga were identified, suggesting that metabolism of extracellular polymeric substances and waste cell material are crucial in maintaining healthy, well-settling flocs in EBPR systems.

Identifying microbial populations and pathways central to macromolecule synthesis and degradation in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.