Effect of quorum quenching on biofouling control and microbial community in membrane bioreactors by Brucella sp. ZJ1.

Quorum quenching (QQ) has been demonstrated to be a novel technique for controlling biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs), as it can significantly inhibit biofilm formation by disrupting quorum sensing (QS). The exploration of new QQ bacterial strains and the evaluation of their performance in mitigating membrane fouling in MBR systems is significant. In this study, an efficient QQ strain, Brucella sp. ZJ1 was encapsulated in alginate beads and evaluated for its ability to mitigate biofouling. The findings revealed that MBR with QQ beads extended the operation time by 2-3 times without affecting pollutant degradation. QQ beads maintained approximately 50% QQ activity after more than 50 days operation, indicating a long-lasting and endurable QQ effect. The QQ effect reduced extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production especially in terms of polysaccharide and protein by more than 40%. QQ beads in the MBR also reduced the cake resistance and the irreversible resistance of membrane biofouling. Metagenomic sequencing suggests that QQ beads suppressed the QS effect and increased the abundance of QQ enzyme genes, ultimately inducing efficient membrane biofouling control.

A novel strategy for enhancing bioremediation of polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil with resuscitation promoting factor and resuscitated strain.

PCBs bioremediation is largely impeded by the reduced metabolic activity and degradation ability of indigenous and exogenous microorganisms. Resuscitation promoting factor (Rpf) of Micrococcus luteus, has been reported to resuscitate and stimulate the growth of PCB-degrading bacterial populations, and the resuscitated strains exhibited excellent PCB-degrading performances. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the feasibility of supplementing Rpf (SR) or resuscitated strain LS1 (SL), or both (SRL) for enhanced bioremediation of PCB-contaminated soil. The results indicated that Rpf and/or LS1 amended soil microcosms achieved more rapid PCBs degradation, which were 1.1-3.2 times faster than control microcosms. Although soil-inoculated LS1 maintained the PCB-degrading activity, higher PCBs degradation was observed in Rpf-amended soil microcosms compared with SL. The order of enhancement effect on PCBs bioremediation was SRL > SR > SL. PCBs degradation in soil microcosms was via HOPDA-benzoate-catechol/protocatechuate pathways. The improved PCBs degradation in Rpf-amended soil microcosms was attributed to the enhanced abundances of PCB-degrading populations which were mainly belonged to Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. These results suggest that Rpf and resuscitated strains serve as effective additive and bio-inoculant for enhanced bioremediation, providing new approaches to realizing large scale applications of in situ bioremediation.

Effect of aeration modes on nitrogen removal and N2O emission in the partial nitrification and denitrification process for landfill leachate treatment.

The anoxic/multi-aerobic process is widely applied for treating landfill leachate with low carbon to nitrogen ratio. In this study, the effect of two aeration modes in the aerobic phase, i.e. decreasing dissolved oxygen (DO) and increasing DO, on nitrogen removal and N2O emission in the process were systematically compared. The results demonstrate that the aerobic phase with increasing DO mode has a positive effect on improved total nitrogen removal (78 %) under the COD/N ratio as low as 3.45 and minimized N2O emission. DO concentration higher than 1.5 mg/L in the aerobic phase reduced nitrogen removal and led to a significant high N2O emission in the process. Complete nitrite denitrification in the anoxic phase correlated with minimized N2O emission. Under efficient nitrogen removal stage, N2O emission factor was 2.4 ± 1.0 % of the total incoming nitrogen. Microbial analysis revealed that increasing DO mode increased the abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria and denitrifiers.