Population dynamics and metabolic potential of a pilot-scale microbial community performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Civil Engineering, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lawson, Christopher Evan
issued: 2014-09-15T15:02:23Z
issued: 2014
related degree: Master of Applied Science - MASc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is an environmental biotechnology of global importance, essential for protecting receiving waters from eutrophication and enabling phosphorus recovery. Current understanding of EBPR is largely based on empirical evidence and black-box models that fail to appreciate the driving force responsible for nutrient cycling and ultimate phosphorus removal, namely microbial communities. Accordingly, this thesis focused on understanding the microbial ecology of a pilot-scale microbial community performing EBPR to better link bioreactor processes to underlying microbial agents. Initially, temporal changes in microbial community structure and activity were monitored in a pilot-scale EBPR treatment plant by examining the ratio of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) to SSU rRNA gene over a 120-day study period. Although the majority of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the EBPR ecosystem were rare, many maintained high potential activities, suggesting that rare OTUs made significant contributions to protein synthesis potential. Few significant differences in OTU abundance and activity were observed between bioreactor redox zones, although differences in temporal activity were observed among phylogenetically cohesive OTUs. Moreover, observed temporal activity patterns could not be explained by measured process parameters, suggesting that alternate ecological forces shaped community interactions in the bioreactor milieu. Subsequently, a metagenome was generated from pilot plant biomass samples using 454 pyrosequencing. Comparison of microbial community metabolism across multiple metagenomes from different environments revealed that EBPR community function was enriched in biofilm formation, phosphorus metabolism, and aromatic compound degradation, reflective of local bioreactor conditions. Population genomes binned from metagenomic contigs showed that M. parvicella genomes displayed remarkable genomic cohesion across EBPR ecosystem…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/50362
note: Population dynamics and metabolic potential of a pilot-scale microbial community performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal by CHRISTOPHER EVAN LAWSON B.A.Sc. (Civil Engineering), University of British Columbia, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Civil Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2014 © Christopher Evan Lawson, 2014 ii Abstract Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is an environmental biotechnology of global importance, essential for protecting receiving waters from eutrophication and enabling phosphorus recovery. Current understanding of EBPR is largely based on empirical evidence and black-box models that fail to appreciate the driving force responsible for nutrient cycling and ultimate phosphorus removal, namely microbial communities. Accordingly, this thesis focused on understanding the microbial ecology of a pilot-scale microbial community performing EBPR to better link bioreactor processes to underlying microbial agents. Initially, temporal changes in microbial community structure and activity were monitored in a pilot-scale EBPR treatment plant by examining the ratio of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) to SSU rRNA gene over a 120-day study period. Although the majority of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the EBPR ecosystem were rare, many maintained high potential activities, suggesting that rare OTUs made significant contributions to protein synthesis potential. Few significant differences in OTU abundance and activity were observed between bioreactor redox zones, although differences in temporal activity were observed among phylogenetically cohesive OTUs. Moreover, observed temporal activity patterns could not be explained by measured process parameters, suggesting that alternate ecological forces shaped community interactions in the bioreactor milieu. Subsequentl…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2014-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0166977
language: eng
degree discipline: Civil Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50362