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The microbial community of a biofilm contact reactor for the treatment of winery wastewater
Author(s) -
Beer D.M.,
Botes M.,
Cloete T.E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/jam.13654
Subject(s) - bioreactor , biofilm , microbial consortium , wastewater , microbial population biology , denitrifying bacteria , sewage treatment , biology , pulp and paper industry , winery , environmental science , biochemical engineering , bacteria , environmental engineering , food science , chemistry , microorganism , denitrification , botany , engineering , genetics , organic chemistry , wine , nitrogen
Aims To utilize a three‐tiered approach to provide insight into the microbial community structure, the spatial distribution and the metabolic capabilities of organisms of a biofilm in the two towers of a high‐rate biological contact reactor treating winery wastewater. Methods and Results Next‐generation sequencing indicated that bacteria primarily responsible for the removal of carbohydrates, sugars and alcohol were more abundant in tower 1 than tower 2 while nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria were more abundant in tower 2. Yeast populations differed in each tower. Fluorescent in situ hybridization coupled with confocal microscopy showed distribution of organisms confirming an oxygen gradient across the biofilm depth. The Biolog system ( ECO plates) specified the different carbon‐metabolizing profiles of the two biofilms. Conclusions The three‐tiered approach confirmed that the addition of a second subunit to the bioreactor, expanded the treatment capacity by augmenting the microbial and metabolic diversity of the system, improving the treatment scope of the system. Significance and Impact of the Study A three‐tiered biofilm analysis provided data required to optimize the design of a bioreactor to provide favourable conditions for the development of a microbial consortium, which has optimal waste removal properties for the treatment requirements at hand.