Insights into the effects of carbon source on sequencing batch reactors: Performance, quorum sensing and microbial community

Abstract

Effects of carbon source on the performance, quorum sensing (QS) and microbial communities in the sequencing batch reactors were investigated in this work. Among the chosen carbon source, sodium acetate (R1), glucose (R2), starch (R3) and Tween 80 (R4), sodium acetate was the best carbon source for nutrient removal, while starch was favorable for inducing the sludge bulking, and Tween 80 was beneficial to the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and proliferation of Microthrix parvicella. Additionally, the R² value of linear correlation between sludge settleability and particle size in four reactors followed an order of R1 > R2 > R3 > R4. Moreover, Person correlation analysis showed that various significant correlations were observed in reactors fed with different carbon sources and the QS mainly mediated the production and component of EPS. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that the carbon source affected microbial communities and the Canonical correspondence analysis results indicated that QS related to microbial communities. It was inferred that the interactions between microbial communities and QS affected system performance.

Keywords: Canonical correspondence analysis; Carbon source; Microbial community; Nutrient removal; Quorum sensing.