“…In R1, the relative abundances of Thiothrix , Tessaracoccus , and Zoogloea decreased to 6.26, 0.44, and 3.68%, while the relative abundances of Candidatus_Competibacter , Plasticicumulans , norank_f__A4b , norank_f__norank_o__Saccharimonadales , and Micropruina increased to 18.79, 10.87, 9.02, 7.61, and 6.52%, respectively. The decrease in relative abundance of Zoogloea , along with the increased relative abundances of Plasticicumulans , norank_f__A4b , and norank_f__norank_o__Saccharimonadales , which were known for their ability to hydrolyze EPS ( Zhang et al, 2022 ; Jiang et al, 2023 ; Wang et al, 2023 ), collectively contributed to the reduction in EPS content during this stage. Interestingly, the relative abundance of Thiothrix increased to 19.25% in R2-2, however, no excessive filamentous bacteria were observed on the surface of granules in SEM images.…”