Putative metabolism of Ca. Accumulibacter via the utilization of glucose

Putative metabolism of Ca. Accumulibacter via the utilization of glucose

Ziliani, Agustina (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology; IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)
Bovio-Winkler, Patricia (Instituto de Investigaciones Biol ́ogicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo)
Cabezas, Angela (Technological University of Uruguay)
Etchebehere, Claudia (Instituto de Investigaciones Biol ́ogicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo)
Garcia, Hector A. (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)
López-Vázquez, Carlos M. (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)
Brdjanovic, Damir (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology; IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)
van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology)
Rubio-Rincón, Francisco J. (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education)

2023

Ca. Accumulibacter was the predominant microorganism (relative FISH bio-abundance of 67 ± 5%) in a lab-scale sequential batch reactor that accomplished enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) while using glucose and acetate as the carbon sources (1:1 COD-based ratio). Both organic compounds were completely anaerobically consumed. The reactor's performance in terms of P/C ratio, phosphorous release and uptake, and overall kinetic and stoichiometric parameters were on the high end of the reported spectrum for EBPR systems (100:9.3 net mg phosphate removal per mg COD consumed when using glucose and acetate in a 1:1 ratio). The batch tests showed that, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a reactor enriched with Ca. Accumulibacter can putatively utilize glucose as the sole carbon source to biologically remove phosphate (COD:P (mg/mg) removal ratio of 100:6.3 when using only glucose). Thus, this research proposes that Ca. Accumulibacter directly anaerobically stored the fed glucose primarily as glycogen by utilizing the ATP provided via the hydrolysis of poly-P and secondarily as PHA by balancing its ATP utilization (glycogen generation) and formation (PHA storage). Alternative hypotheses are also discussed. The reported findings could challenge the conventional theories of glucose assimilation by Ca. Accumulibacter, and can be of significance for the biological removal of phosphorus from wastewaters with high contents of fermentable compounds or low VFAs.

Ca. Accumulibacter
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal
Glucose metabolism
Wastewater with fermentable compounds

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:927dcb3b-aca1-4462-b546-d667e7673f46

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119446

0043-1354

Water Research, 229

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 Agustina Ziliani, Patricia Bovio-Winkler, Angela Cabezas, Claudia Etchebehere, Hector A. Garcia, Carlos M. López-Vázquez, Damir Brdjanovic, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, Francisco J. Rubio-Rincón