Responses of microbial communities and their interactions to ibuprofen in a bio-electrochemical system

• Published in: Journal of environmental management Vol. 289; p. 112473
• Main Authors: Zhu, Minghan, Zhang, Minglu, Yuan, Yibo, Zhang, Peilin, Du, Shuai, Ya, Tao, Chen, Daying, Wang, Xiaohui, Zhang, Tingting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Bio-electrochemical system; Bioreactors; Denitrification; Humans; Ibuprofen; Microbial community; Microbiota; Molecular ecological network; Nitrates; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Waste Water; Wastewater nutrients removal; Molecular ecological network; Bio-electrochemical system; Wastewater nutrients removal; Microbial community; Ibuprofen
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112473

Ibuprofen has caused great concerns due to their potential environmental risks. However, their removal efficiency and their effects on microbial interactions in bio-electrochemical system remain unclear. To address these issues, a lab-scale bio-electrochemical reactor integrated with sulfur/iron-mediated autotrophic denitrification (BER-S/IAD) system exposing to 1000 μg L−1 ibuprofen was operated for about two months. Results revealed that the BER-S/IAD system obtained efficient simultaneous denitrification (98.93%) and phosphorus (82.67%) removal, as well as an excellent ibuprofen removal performance (96.98%). Ibuprofen had no significant impacts on the nitrate (NO3−-N) removal and the ammonia (NH4+-N) accumulation, but decreased the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiencies. MiSeq sequencing analysis revealed that ibuprofen significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the microbial community diversity and changed their overall structure. Some bacteria related to denitrification and phosphorus removal, such as Pseudomonas and Thiobacillus, decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Moreover, molecular ecological network (MEN) analysis revealed that ibuprofen decreased the network's size and complexity, and enhanced the negative correlations of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Besides, ibuprofen decreased the links of some keystone bacteria related to denitrification and phosphorus removal. This research could provide a new dimension for our comprehending of the responses of microbial communities and their interactions to ibuprofen in bio-electrochemical system. [Display omitted] •The BER-S/IAD system has high-efficient wastewater nutrients removal performance.•Ibuprofen triggered the deterioration of denitrification and phosphorus removal.•Ibuprofen decreased the microbial diversity and altered the microbial composition.•Ibuprofen reduced the microbial network scale and enhanced the microbial competition.•Ibuprofen reduced the links of some keystone bacteria related to nutrients removal.