Performance evaluation and microbial community of a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) treating mariculture wastewater at different chlortetracycline concentrations

Abstract

The effects of chlortetracycline (CTC) on the performance, microbial activity, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and microbial community of a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) were investigated in treating mariculture wastewater. Low CTC concentration (less than 6 mg/L) had no obvious effect on the SBBR performance, whereas high CTC concentration could inhibit the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen removal of the SBBR. The microbial activity of the biofilm in the SBBR decreased with the increase of CTC concentration from 0 to 35 mg/L. The protein (PN) contents were always higher than the PS contents in both loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) at different CTC concentrations. The chemical compositions of LB-EPS and TB-EPS had obvious variations with the increase of CTC concentration from 0 to 35 mg/L. The high-throughput sequencing revealed the effects of CTC on the microbial communities of the biofilm at phylum, class and genus level. The relative abundances of some genera displayed a decreasing tendency with the increase of CTC concentration from 0 to 35 mg/L, such as Nitrospira, Paracoccus, Hyphomicrobium, Azospirillum. However, the relative abundances of the genera Flavobacterium, Aequorivita, Buchnera, Azonexus and Thioalbus increased with the increase of CTC concentration.

Keywords: Chlortetracycline; Extracellular polymeric substances; Mariculture wastewater; Microbial community; Sequencing batch biofilm reactor.