Alternative metabolic options of exoelectrogenic biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are important not only to explain the fundamental ecology and performance of these systems but also to develop reliable integrated nutrient removal strategies in BESs, which potentially involve substrates or intermediates that support/induce those alternative metabolisms. This research focused on dissimilatory nitrate reduction as an alternative metabolism to dissimilatory anode reduction. Using the exoelectrogenic nitrate reducer Geobacter metallireducens, the critical conditions controlling those alternative metabolisms were investigated in two-chamber, potentiostatically controlled BESs at various anode potentials and biofilm thicknesses and challenged over a range of nitrate concentrations. Results showed that anode-reducing biofilms facultatively reduced nitrate at all tested anode potentials (-150 to +900 mV vs Standard Hydrogen Electrode) with a rapid metabolic shift. The critical nitrate concentration that triggered a significant decrease in BES performance was a function of anode biofilm thickness but not anode potential. This indicates that these alternative metabolisms were controlled by the availability of nitrate, which is a function of nitrate concentration in bulk solution and its diffusion into an anode-reducing biofilm. Coulombic recovery decreased as a function of nitrate dose due to electron-acceptor substrate competition, and nitrate-induced suspended biomass growth decreased the effluent quality.

To elucidate the mechanism of the high aluminum (Al) resistance of a Myrtaceae tree, Melaleuca cajuputi Powell, we investigated the responses of root tips to Al and compared them with those of an Al-sensitive species, M. bracteata F. Muell. Roots of seedlings of both species were treated with a calcium solution (pH 4.0) containing 0 or 1 mM AlCl 3 . After 3 h of Al treatment, inhibition of root elongation and deposition of callose and lignin in root tips, typical signs of Al injury, were induced in M. bracteata but not in M. cajuputi, yet Al accumulation in root tips was similar in both species. These results indicate that internal Al tolerance mechanisms, not Al exclusion mechanisms, are responsible for the Al resistance of M. cajuputi. After 3 h of Al treatment, amount of Al tightly bound to root tips, Al remaining after washing with a desorbing solution, was less in M. cajuputi than in M. bracteata. In M. bracteata, 6 h of Al treatment triggered the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in root tips despite the upregulation of antioxidant mechanisms, activity of peroxidase and concentration of reduced glutathione. In M. cajuputi, 6 h of Al treatment did not affect the concentration of H 2 O 2 , but decreased activity of peroxidase, and increased concentration of reduced glutathione in root tips. These results suggest that the less Al tightly bound to root tips is involved in the suppressing the H 2 O 2 accumulation and the internal Al tolerance in M. cajuputi, and that the H 2 O 2 accumulation or changes in cellular environment that bring about H 2 O 2 accumulation despite the upregulation of antioxidant mechanisms results in Al-induced inhibition of root elongation in M. bracteata.

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