Performance of a biocrust cyanobacteria-indigenous bacteria (BCIB) co-culture system for nutrient capture and transfer in municipal wastewater

Li Wu; Linghui Quan; Zhikang Deng; Ashiwin Vadiveloo; Yongtao Cheng; Lie Yang; Zulin Zhang; Abdullah A Saber; Shubin Lan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164236

Performance of a biocrust cyanobacteria-indigenous bacteria (BCIB) co-culture system for nutrient capture and transfer in municipal wastewater

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Aug 25:888:164236. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164236. Epub 2023 May 16.

Authors

Li Wu¹, Linghui Quan², Zhikang Deng², Ashiwin Vadiveloo³, Yongtao Cheng², Lie Yang², Zulin Zhang⁴, Abdullah A Saber⁵, Shubin Lan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Grassland Science/School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430072, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China.
² School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430072, China.
³ Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth 6150, Australia.
⁴ School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430072, China; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen ABI5 8QH, UK.
⁵ Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbassia Square, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Grassland Science/School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China. Electronic address: lanshubin@nenu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37201839
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164236

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the potential for transferring nutrients from municipal wastewater through the cultivation of biocrust cyanobacteria, since little is known regarding the growth and bioremediation performance of biocrust cyanobacteria in actual wastewater, especially their interaction with indigenous bacteria. Therefore, in this study, the biocrust cyanobacterium, Scytonema hyalinum was cultivated in municipal wastewater under different light intensities, to establish a biocrust cyanobacteria-indigenous bacteria (BCIB) co-culture system, in order to investigate its nutrient removal efficiency. Our results revealed that the cyanobacteria-bacteria consortium could remove up to 91.37 % and 98.86 % of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus from the wastewater, respectively. The highest biomass accumulation (max. 6.31 mg chlorophyll-a L^-1) and exopolysaccharide secretion (max. 21.90 mg L^-1) were achieved under respective optimized light intensity (60 and 80 μmol m^-2 s^-1). High light intensity was found to increase exopolysaccharide secretion, but negatively impacted cyanobacterial growth and nutrient removal. Overall, in the established cultivation system, cyanobacteria accounted for 26-47 % of the total bacterial abundance, while proteobacteria consisted up to 50 % of the mixture. The composition and ratio of cyanobacteria to indigenous bacteria were shown to be altered by adjusting the light intensity of the system. Altogether, our results clearly illustrate the potential of the biocrust cyanobacterium S. hyalinum in establishing a BCIB cultivation system under different light intensity for wastewater treatment and other end-applications (e.g., biomass accumulation and exopolysaccharide secretion). This study presents an innovative strategy for transferring nutrients from wastewater to drylands through cyanobacterial cultivation and subsequent biocrust induction.

Keywords: Biocrusts; Cyanobacteria; Light intensity; Nutrient transfer; Wastewater.

MeSH terms

Biomass
Coculture Techniques
Cyanobacteria*
Nutrients
Wastewater*

Substances

Wastewater