Biofouling mitigation and microbial community dynamics in the membrane bioreactor by the indigenous quorum quenching bacterium Delftia sp. JL5

Fangfang Xu; Jialong Liao; Jinchen Hu; Yunshi Feng; Yanyao Huang; Xingtong Feng; Shuangfei Li

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129753

Biofouling mitigation and microbial community dynamics in the membrane bioreactor by the indigenous quorum quenching bacterium Delftia sp. JL5

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Nov:388:129753. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129753. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Fangfang Xu¹, Jialong Liao², Jinchen Hu³, Yunshi Feng⁴, Yanyao Huang⁴, Xingtong Feng⁴, Shuangfei Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Ecology, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: ff.xu@szu.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Ecology, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Forigin Research Center, Fairylands Environmental Sci-Tech (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Shenzhen 518055, China.
³ School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Ecology, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.

PMID: 37696340
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129753

Abstract

The quorum quenching (QQ) strategy has attracted increasing attention in membrane bioreactor (MBR) fouling control. However, the applicable QQ strain remains limited. This study investigated the antibiofouling performance of a new indigenous QQ bacterium, Delftia sp. JL5 (JL5) in MBR. JL5 produces intracellular acylase that irreversibly degrades N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHL), inhibited biofilm formation of quorum-sensing bacteria from activated sludge. During 120 days of operation, immobilized JL5 substantially delayed MBR biofouling by 2.1 and 2.9 times, at a flux rate of 30 L/(m²·h) and 20 L/(m²·h), respectively. A slower flux rate was favorable for effective mitigation of JL5 biofouling. JL5 reduced the AHL and extracellular polymeric substances of biocake without affecting the efficiency of waste removal. The presence of JL5 significantly changed the microbial structure of the membrane biocake, but not the activated sludge. Collectively, high activity, durability, and acid tolerance credited JL5 as a promising strain for QQ-MBR.

Keywords: Biofouling control; Membrane bioreactor; Microbial community analysis; Quorum quenching.