Pressure of different level PFOS on aerobic granule sludge: Insights on performance, AGS structure, community succession, and microbial interaction responses

Kening Wang; Yan Huang; Minglu Zhang; Haihe Xiao; Gengyi Zhang; Tingting Zhang; Xiaohui Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167682

Pressure of different level PFOS on aerobic granule sludge: Insights on performance, AGS structure, community succession, and microbial interaction responses

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jan 1:906:167682. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167682. Epub 2023 Oct 16.

Authors

Kening Wang¹, Yan Huang¹, Minglu Zhang², Haihe Xiao¹, Gengyi Zhang¹, Tingting Zhang³, Xiaohui Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Engineering Research Center of Environmental Material for Water Purification, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
² Key Laboratory of Cleaner Production and Integrated Resource Utilization of China National Light Industry, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
³ Beijing Engineering Research Center of Environmental Material for Water Purification, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. Electronic address: zhangtt@mail.buct.edu.cn.
⁴ Beijing Engineering Research Center of Environmental Material for Water Purification, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China. Electronic address: xhwang@mail.buct.edu.cn.

PMID: 37820810
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167682

Abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) has received much attention due to its potential environmental risks. However, the response of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) to PFOS exposure, particularly the microbial interactions, remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the particle structure of AGS, pollutant removal performance, community succession, and microbial interaction in the AGS system under different PFOS concentrations (0.1 and 1 mg/L). The mass balance showed that PFOS was mainly removed by adsorption with a removal rate of >85 %. PFOS caused some particles to break up and decreased the average particle size from 3.37 mm to 2.64 mm. It also significantly decreased the total nitrogen and total phosphorus removal rates, which was consistent with the deterioration of microbial activity, such as denitrification rate (25 % inhibition), phosphorus uptake rate (73.19 % inhibition), and phosphorus release rate (73.33 % inhibition). PFOS promoted the secretion of extracellular polymer (EPS) in AGS, especially proteins, leading to poor particle hydrophobicity. The network analysis illustrated that PFOS slowed down the information transfer between microorganisms, and increased the competition between them, which may be responsible for the deterioration of the system performance. Connections related to rare species accounted for >75 % of the network, suggesting that rare species have an indispensable role in community information exchange. In addition, rare species acted as seed banks for microorganisms, and under PFOS stress, they transformed into keystone species, which could contribute to system stabilization. This study provides new insights into the effects of PFOS on microbial interactions in AGS systems and the roles of rare species in the AGS microbial community.

Keywords: Aerobic granular sludge; Community succession; Microbial interaction; Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid.

MeSH terms

Aerobiosis
Bioreactors
Microbial Interactions
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sewage* / chemistry
Waste Disposal, Fluid*

Substances

Sewage
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
Nitrogen
Phosphorus