Mechanisms of endogenous and exogenous partial denitrification in response to different carbon/nitrogen ratios: Transcript levels, nitrous oxide production, electron transport.

Nitrite as an important substrate for Anammox can be provided by partial denitrification (PD). In this study, endogenous partial denitrification (EdPD) and exogenous partial denitrification (ExPD) sludge were domesticated and their nitrite transformation rate reached 74.4% and 83.4%, respectively. The impact of four carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios (1.5, 3.0, 5.0 and 6.0) on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and denitrification functional genes expression in both PD systems were investigated. Results showed that elevated C/N ratios enhanced most denitrification genes expression, but in EdPD, high nitrite levels suppressed nosZ genes expression (from 9.4% to 1.4%), leading to increased N2O emission (0 to 3.4%). EdPD also exhibited lower electron transfer system activity, resulting in slower nitrogen oxide conversion efficiency and more stable nitrite accumulation compared to ExPD. These findings offer insights for optimizing PD systems under varying water quality conditions.

Selective stress of antibiotics on microbial denitrification: Inhibitory effects, dynamics of microbial community structure and function.

Antibiotics commonly exist in municipal, livestock and industrial wastewaters. However, the response of key microbiota performance in wastewater treatment plants to antibiotic exposure lacks systematic research. In this study, the short-term acute stress of four commonly used antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole, chlortetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and amoxicillin) on microbial denitrification performance was systematically investigated. All tested antibiotics exhibited the inhibitory effects in varying degrees by repeated addition for six cycles. The nitrate removal efficiencies (NrE) decreased to 7.98-26.80%, accompanied by the significant decrease of the expressed narG gene, by exposure to sulfamethoxazole, chlortetracycline or amoxicillin. Nitrite reduction was inhibited more severely than nitrate reduction, which was further verified by the low- or non-expressed nirS and nosZ genes. Furthermore, a higher antibiotic concentration made stronger inhibitory effect. Except for chlortetracycline, 2.09-6.80 times decrease of k value was commonly observed as concentration increased from 10 to 50 or 100 mg L-1. Even in a short period (24 h), antibiotics largely decreased the abundance of the dominant denitrifying bacterial genera (Thauera, Comamonas, etc.), while, some unclassified populations (Labrenzia, Longilinea, etc.) were enriched. This study provides theoretical researches on the microbial denitrification behaviors influenced by exposure to different antibiotics.