Deciphering the microbial community structures and functions of wastewater treatment at high-altitude area

• Published in: Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology Vol. 11; p. 1107633
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yuliang, Liu, Yucan, Chang, Huanhuan, Yang, Hao, Zhang, Wei, Zhang, Yanxiang, Sun, Hongwei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 27.02.2023
• Subjects: Bioengineering and Biotechnology; core bacteria; correlation network analysis; high-altitude WWTPs; Illumina High-throughput sequencing; microbial communities; high-altitude WWTPs; Illumina High-throughput sequencing; microbial communities; core bacteria; correlation network analysis
• ISSN: 2296-4185; 2296-4185
• DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1107633

The proper operation of wastewater treatment plants is a key factor in maintaining a stable river and lake environment. Low purification efficiency in winter is a common problem in high-altitude wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and analysis of the microbial community involved in the sewage treatment process at high-altitude can provide valuable references for improving this problem. In this study, the bacterial communities of high- and low-altitude WWTPs were investigated using Illumina high-throughput sequencing (HTS). The interaction between microbial community and environmental variables were explored by co-occurrence correlation network. At genus level, (5.2%), (3.0%), (2.5%), and (2.5%) were the dominant genera in high-altitude group. The abundance of nitrogen and phosphorus removal bacteria were higher in high-altitude group (10.2% and 1.3%, respectively) than in low-altitude group (5.4% and 0.6%, respectively). Redundancy analysis (RDA) and co-occurrence network analysis showed that altitude, ultraviolet index (UVI), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and total nitrogen (TN) were the dominated environmental factors ( < 0.05) affecting microbial community assembly, and these five variables explained 21.4%, 20.3%, 16.9%, 11.5%, and 8.2% of the bacterial assembly of AS communities. The community diversity of high-altitude group was lower than that of low-altitude group, and WWTPs of high-altitude aeras had a unique microbial community structure. Low temperature and strong UVI are pivotal factors contributing to the reduced diversity of activated sludge microbial communities at high-altitudes.