Effects of exogenous N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) on methanogenic activities and microbial community differences during anaerobic digestion.

N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) function as signaling molecules influencing microbial community dynamics. This study investigates the impact of exogenously applied AHLs on methane production during waste-activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic digestion (AD). Nine AHL types, ranging from 10-4 to 10 µg/g VSS, were applied, comparing microbial community composition under optimal AHL concentrations. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria were identified in anaerobic digesters with C4-HSL, C6-HSL, and C8-HSL. Compared to the control, Halobacterota increased by 19.25%, 20.87%, and 9.33% with C7-HSL, C10-HSL, and C12-HSL. Exogenous C7-HSL enhanced the relative abundance of Methanosarcina, Romboutsia, Sedimentibacter, Proteiniclasticum, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group. C10-HSL increased Methanosarcina abundance. C4-HSL, C6-HSL, C8-HSL, C10-HSL, and C12-HSL showed potential to increase unclassified_Firmicutes. Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa (FAPROTAX) predicted AHLs' impact on related functional genes, providing insights into their role in AD methanogenesis regulation. This study aimed to enhance the understanding of the influence of different types of exogenous AHLs on AD and provide technical support for regulating the methanogenesis efficiency of AD by exogenous AHLs.

[Analysis of Microbial Interaction Law of Mud Membrane in IFAS Process for Treating Low Carbon Source Sewage in South China].

To assess the problem of sewage treatment under the condition of low carbon sources, we carried out a study of activated sludge and a biofilm symbiosis system (IFAS). The occurrence characteristics and interaction law of microorganisms in two phases of sludge membrane under low carbon source conditions were discussed, and their niche and influence on treatment efficiency were clarified. Through a pilot-scale experiment in actual water plants, the biofilm characteristics, sludge membrane activity, and succession law of flora were analyzed, and the microbial structure and interaction in sludge membrane in two phases under the control of different activated sludge ages were compared. The results showed that the sludge concentration in the reactor increased with the increase in SRT under variable SRT. Because the microbial concentration in SRT-H was much higher than that in SRT-L, the competition between mud films in SRT-H was more intense than that in SRT-L, and the pollutant removal efficiency in SRT-H was lower than that in SRT-L. Under the condition of low-carbon feed water, the sludge activity in the IFAS process decreased with the increase in SRT. Under the condition of low SRT(5 d), the nitrification, denitrification, phosphorus accumulation, and phosphorus absorption rate of activated sludge increased by 122%, 88%, 34%, and 44%, respectively, compared with that of high SRT (25 d). However, SRT had little effect on biofilm activity, and there was little difference in nitrification activity and denitrification activity between the two SRTs. Microbial sequencing analysis showed that the functional bacteria of the IFAS process were enriched and transferred with the change in SRT between the two phases of mud membrane. In SRT-L, the functional bacteria that were enriched and transferred between the two phases of mud film owing to the "seeding" effect were mainly unclassified_g__Enterobacteriaceae, whereas in SRT-H, Acinetobacter was mainly used. At the same time, by analyzing the distribution of dominant functional bacteria, it was found that there was some competition between denitrifying bacteria and phosphorus-accumulating bacteria in activated sludge. Under the condition of a lack of organic substrate in the influent, the relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria was obviously higher than that of phosphorus-accumulating bacteria, which indicated that denitrifying bacteria could better adapt to low-carbon source conditions. Thus, they could occupy a dominant competition position, which was mainly reflected in the increase in the relative abundance of aerobic denitrifying bacteria. In addition, the SRT change in the mud phase reacted in the membrane phase, making the residence time of biofilm change correspondingly, thus changing the flora structure, screening out different dominant bacteria genera, and further increasing the difference.