It has previously been shown that the red alga Bonnemaisonia hamifera is less fouled by bacteria relative to co-occurring seaweeds and that surface extracts of B. hamifera inhibit bacterial growth at natural concentrations. In the present study, we isolated the antibacterial metabolite by bioassay-guided fractionation of extracts of B. hamifera using standard chromatographic methods. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry were used for molecular identification. The antibacterial activity in the extracts was caused by a previously described polyhalogenated 2-heptanone: 1,1, 3, 3-tetrabromo-2-heptanone. To further investigate the role of this compound as an ecologically relevant antifoulant against bacterial colonisation, we quantified it on the surface of B. hamifera specimens collected in the field. Levels of 1,1, 3, 3-tetrabromo-2-heptanone on the surface of the algae were on average 3.6 µg cm -2 . Natural surface concentrations of this secondary metabolite were used to test for growth-inhibiting effects against 18 bacterial strains isolated from red algae co-occurring with B. hamifera. The test indicated a phylogenetic specificity of the metabolite, and gram-positive bacteria and flavobacteria proved to be particularly sensitive. In a further test, natural surface concentrations of 1,1, 3, 3-tetrabromo-2-heptanone were applied to artificial panels and incubated in the sea. After 4 and 7 d, the number of settled bacteria was significantly lower on all treated panels compared to controls. Thus, this study shows that 1,1, 3, 3-tetrabromo-2-heptanone has an ecologically relevant role as an antifoulant against bacterial colonisation on the surface of B. hamifera. This study is also one of only a few to quantify natural surface concentrations of a seaweed secondary metabolite.

The granular sludge process is an effective, low-footprint alternative to conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment. The architecture of the microbial granules allows the co-existence of different functional groups, e.g., nitrifying and denitrifying communities, which permits compact reactor design. However, little is known about the factors influencing community assembly in granular sludge, such as the effects of reactor operation strategies and influent wastewater composition. Here, we analyze the development of the microbiomes in parallel laboratory-scale anoxic/aerobic granular sludge reactors operated at low (0.9 kg m −3 d −1 ), moderate (1.9 kg m −3 d −1 ) and high (3.7 kg m −3 d −1 ) organic loading rates (OLRs) and the same ammonium loading rate (0.2 kg NH 4 -N m −3 d −1 ) for 84 days. Complete removal of organic carbon and ammonium was achieved in all three reactors after start-up, while the nitrogen removal (denitrification) efficiency increased with the OLR: 0% at low, 38% at moderate, and 66% at high loading rate. The bacterial communities at different loading rates diverged rapidly after start-up and showed less than 50% similarity after 6 days, and below 40% similarity after 84 days. The three reactor microbiomes were dominated by different genera (mainly Meganema, Thauera, Paracoccus, and Zoogloea), but these genera have similar ecosystem functions of EPS production, denitrification and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) storage. Many less abundant but persistent taxa were also detected within these functional groups. The bacterial communities were functionally redundant irrespective of the loading rate applied. At steady-state reactor operation, the identity of the core community members was rather stable, but their relative abundances changed considerably over time. Furthermore, nitrifying bacteria were low in relative abundance and diversity in all reactors, despite their large contribution to nitrogen turnover. The results suggest that the OLR has considerable impact on the composition of the granular sludge communities, but also that the granule communities can be dynamic even at steady-state reactor operation due to high functional redundancy of several key guilds. Knowledge about microbial diversity with specific functional guilds under Granular Microbiome at Different Organic Loads different operating conditions can be important for engineers to predict the stability of reactor functions during the start-up and continued reactor operation.

Granular activated sludge has gained increasing interest due to its potential in treating wastewater in a compact and efficient way. It is well-established that activated sludge can form granules under certain environmental conditions such as batch-wise operation with feast-famine feeding, high hydrodynamic shear forces, and short settling time which select for dense microbial aggregates. Aerobic granules with stable structure and functionality have been obtained with a range of different wastewaters seeded with different sources of sludge at different operational conditions, but the microbial communities developed differed substantially. In spite of this, granule instability occurs. In this review, the available literature on the mechanisms involved in granulation and how it affects the effluent quality is assessed with special attention given to the microbial interactions involved. To be able to optimize the process further, more knowledge is needed regarding the influence of microbial communities and their metabolism on granule stability and functionality. Studies performed at conditions similar to full-scale such as fluctuation in organic loading rate, hydrodynamic conditions, temperature, incoming particles, and feed water microorganisms need further investigations.

No abstract

Microbial biofilms are ubiquitous in aquatic environments where they provide important ecosystem functions. A key property believed to influence the community structure and function of biofilms is thickness. However, since biofilm thickness is inextricably linked to external factors such as water flow, temperature, development age and nutrient conditions, its importance is difficult to quantify. Here, we designed an experimental system in a wastewater treatment plant whereby nitrifying biofilms with different thicknesses (50 or 400 µm) were grown in a single reactor, and thus subjected to identical external conditions. The 50 and 400 µm biofilm communities were significantly different. This beta-diversity between biofilms of different thickness was primarily caused by deterministic factors. Turnover (species replacement) contributed more than nestedness (species loss) to the beta-diversity, i.e. the 50 µm communities were not simply a subset of the 400 µm communities. Moreover, the two communities differed in the composition of nitrogen-transforming bacteria and in nitrogen transformation rates. The study illustrates that biofilm thickness alone is a key driver for community composition and ecosystem function, which has implications for biotechnological applications and for our general understanding of biofilm ecology.