Macrogenomic analysis of the effects of aqueous-phase from hydrothermal carbonation of sewage sludge on nitrogen metabolism pathways and associated bacterial communities during composting

Guangchun Shan; Weiguang Li; Jie Liu; Wenbing Tan; Shanshan Bao; Shuncai Wang; Lin Zhu; Xinhao Hu; Beidou Xi

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129811

Macrogenomic analysis of the effects of aqueous-phase from hydrothermal carbonation of sewage sludge on nitrogen metabolism pathways and associated bacterial communities during composting

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Dec:389:129811. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129811. Epub 2023 Sep 28.

Authors

Guangchun Shan¹, Weiguang Li², Jie Liu³, Wenbing Tan⁴, Shanshan Bao⁵, Shuncai Wang³, Lin Zhu³, Xinhao Hu³, Beidou Xi⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, and State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Simulation and Control of Groundwater Pollution, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: hitlwg@126.com.
³ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, and State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Simulation and Control of Groundwater Pollution, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China. Electronic address: wenbingtan@126.com.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Water Management and Water Security for Yellow River Basin, Ministry of Water Resources, Yellow River Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd., Zhengzhou 450003, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, and State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Simulation and Control of Groundwater Pollution, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.

PMID: 37776912
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129811

Abstract

The effects of aqueous phases (AP) formed from hydrothermal carbonation of sewage sludge (with or without rice husk) as moisture regulators of nitrogen metabolism pathways during composting are currently unclear. Macrogenomic analyses revealed that both APs resulted in notably changes in bacterial communities during composting; increased levels of nitrogen assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification metabolic pathways; and decreased levels of nitrogen mineralization metabolic pathways. Genes associated with nitrogen assimilation and mineralization accounted for 34-41% and 32-40% of the annotated reads related to nitrogen cycling during composting, respectively, representing them as the most abundant nitrogen metabolism processes. The gudB and norB were identified as key genes for nitrogen mineralization and nitrous oxide emission, respectively. This research offers a better understanding of the effects of additional nitrogen sources on nitrogen metabolism pathways during composting.

Keywords: Composting; Hydrothermal carbonization; Macrogenomic analysis; Moisture regulator; Nitrogen metabolism; Sewage sludge.