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The uptake of extracellular electrons from cathodes by microbes is a recently discovered phenomenon. However, current knowledge on the diversity of microbes accepting extracellular electrons and populating biocathodes is scarce. Research is required to explore the distribution of extracellular electron uptake metabolism in the tree of life across microbial guilds. Here we characterize the electron uptake ability of microbial guilds enriched on H2, S2O32-, or CH4 and NH4+ from the same inoculum taken from a groundwater treatment sand-filter. We hypothesized that functional microbes having dense outer membrane cytochromes in their native pathway, such as pathways of NH4+, CH4, S2O32- and H2, can perform extracellular electron uptake. We aimed of addressing the following questions: (1) Are there any known microbial member of anticipated function performing extracellular electron transfer? (2) How does electron uptake efficiency vary between the different functional guilds? (3) How is the dissipated electron energy distributed across metabolisms? We developed and applied a novel pipeline to identify taxa utilizing direct electron energy and utilizing secondary microbial products. We report the putative direct electron uptake metabolism of types belonging to Methylomonas, UBA6140, and Nitrosomonas. Furthermore, members of Streptococcaceae, Rhizobiaceae, Streptococcus, Brevundimonas, Chryseobacterium, and Pseudomonas are detected as electroactive taxa. Our results reveal novel insights into the diversity, electrochemical activity, and metabolism of taxa performing direct electron uptake.

The subdivision of biofilm reactor in two or more stages (i.e., reactor staging) represents an option for process optimisation of biological treatment. In our previous work, we showed that the gradient of influent organic substrate availability (induced by the staging) can influence the microbial activity (i.e., denitrification and pharmaceutical biotransformation kinetics) of a denitrifying three-stage Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) system. However, it is unclear whether staging and thus the long-term exposure to varying organic carbon type and loading influences the microbial community structure and diversity. In this study, we investigated biofilm structure and diversity in the three-stage MBBR system (S) compared to a single-stage configuration (U) and their relationship with microbial functions. Results from 16S rRNA amplicon libraries revealed a significantly higher microbial richness in the staged MBBR (at 99% sequence similarity) compared to single-stage MBBR. A more even and diverse microbial community was selected in the last stage of S (S3), likely due to exposure to carbon limitation during continuous-flow operation. A core of OTUs was shared in both systems, consisting of Burkholderiales, Xanthomonadales, Flavobacteriales and Sphingobacteriales, while MBBR staging selected for specific taxa (i.e., Candidate division WS6 and Deinococcales). Results from quantitative PCR (qPCR) showed that S3 exhibited the lowest abundance of 16S rRNA but the highest abundance of atypical nosZ, suggesting a selection of microbes with more diverse N-metabolism (i.e., incomplete denitrifiers) in the stage exposed to the lowest carbon availability. A positive correlation (p < 0.05) was observed between removal rate constants of several pharmaceuticals with abundance of relevant denitrifying genes, but not with biodiversity. Despite the previously suggested positive relationship between microbial diversity and functionality in macrobial and microbial ecosystems, this was not observed in the current study, indicating a need to further investigate structure-function relationships for denitrifying systems.

Summary Community assembly is a central topic in microbial ecology: how do assembly processes interact and what is the relative contribution of stochasticity and determinism? Here, we exposed replicate flow-through biofilm systems, fed with nitrite-supplemented tap water, to continuous immigration from a source community, present in the tap water, to determine the extent of selection and neutral processes in newly assembled biofilm communities at both the community and the functional guild (of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, NOB) levels. The community composition of biofilms assembled under low and high nitrite loading was described after 40 days of complete nitrite removal. The total community assembly, as well as the NOB guild assembly were largely governed by a combination of deterministic and stochastic processes. Furthermore, we observed deterministic enrichment of certain types of NOB in the biofilms. Specifically, elevated nitrite loading selected for a single Nitrotoga representative, while lower nitrite conditions selected for a number of Nitrospira. Therefore, even when focusing on ecologically coherent ensembles, assembly is the result of complex stochastic and deterministic processes that can only be interrogated by observing multiple assemblies under controlled conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

With this study we provide the first in situ evidence of ecologically relevant ammonia oxidation by comammox Nitrospira in a complex microbiome and document an unexpectedly high H13CO3− uptake and growth of proteobacterial and acidobacterial taxa under ammonia selectivity. This finding raises the question of whether comammox Nitrospira is an equally important ammonia oxidizer in other environments., Nitrification, the oxidative process converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrate, is driven by microbes and plays a central role in the global nitrogen cycle. Our earlier investigations based on 16S rRNA and amoA amplicon analysis, amoA quantitative PCR and metagenomics of groundwater-fed biofilters indicated a consistently high abundance of comammox Nitrospira. Here, we hypothesized that these nonclassical nitrifiers drive ammonia-N oxidation. Hence, we used DNA and RNA stable isotope probing (SIP) coupled with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to identify the active members in the biofilter community when subjected to a continuous supply of NH4+ or NO2− in the presence of 13C-HCO3− (labeled) or 12C-HCO3− (unlabeled). Allylthiourea (ATU) and sodium chlorate were added to inhibit autotrophic ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, respectively. Our results confirmed that lineage II Nitrospira dominated ammonia oxidation in the biofilter community. A total of 78 (8 by RNA-SIP and 70 by DNA-SIP) and 96 (25 by RNA-SIP and 71 by DNA-SIP) Nitrospira phylotypes (at 99% 16S rRNA sequence similarity) were identified as complete ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing, respectively. We also detected significant HCO3− uptake by Acidobacteria subgroup10, Pedomicrobium, Rhizobacter, and Acidovorax under conditions that favored ammonia oxidation. Canonical Nitrospira alone drove nitrite oxidation in the biofilter community, and activity of archaeal ammonia-oxidizing taxa was not detected in the SIP fractions. This study provides the first in situ evidence of ammonia oxidation by comammox Nitrospira in an ecologically relevant complex microbiome.

Exploring the variation in microbial community diversity between locations (β diversity) is a central topic in microbial ecology. Currently, there is no consensus on how to set the significance threshold for β diversity. Here, we describe and quantify the technical components of β diversity, including those associated with the process of subsampling. These components exist for any proposed β diversity measurement procedure. Further, we introduce a strategy to set significance thresholds for β diversity of any group of microbial samples using rarefaction, invoking the notion of a meta-community. The proposed technique was applied to several in silico generated operational taxonomic unit (OTU) libraries and experimental 16S rRNA pyrosequencing libraries. The latter represented microbial communities from different biological rapid sand filters at a full-scale waterworks. We observe that β diversity, after subsampling, is inflated by intra-sample differences; this inflation is avoided in the proposed method. In addition, microbial community evenness (Gini > 0.08) strongly affects all β diversity estimations due to bias associated with rarefaction. Where published methods to test β significance often fail, the proposed meta-community-based estimator is more successful at rejecting insignificant β diversity values. Applying our approach, we reveal the heterogeneous microbial structure of biological rapid sand filters both within and across filters.

The environmental stimulants and inhibitors of conjugal plasmid transfer in microbial communities are poorly understood. Specifically, it is not known whether exposure to stressors may cause a community to alter its plasmid uptake ability. We assessed whether metals (Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn) and one metalloid (As), at concentrations causing partial growth inhibition, modulate community permissiveness (that is, uptake ability) against a broad-host-range IncP-type plasmid (pKJK5). Cells were extracted from an agricultural soil as recipient community and a cultivation-minimal filter mating assay was conducted with an exogenous E. coli donor strain. The donor hosted a gfp-tagged pKJK5 derivative from which conjugation events could be microscopically quantified and transconjugants isolated and phylogenetically described at high resolution via FACS and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Metal stress consistently decreased plasmid transfer frequencies to the community, while the transconjugal pool richness remained unaffected with OTUs belonging to 12 bacterial phyla. The taxonomic composition of the transconjugal pools was distinct from their respective recipient communities and clustered dependent on the stress type and dose. However, for certain OTUs, stress increased or decreased permissiveness by more than 1000-fold and this response was typically correlated across different metals and doses. The response to some stresses was, in addition, phylogenetically conserved. This is the first demonstration that community permissiveness is sensitive to metal(loid) stress in a manner that is both partially consistent across stressors and phylogenetically conserved.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 2 August 2016; doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.98.

We investigated the density and distribution of total bacteria, canonical Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) (Nitrosomonas plus Nitrosospira), Ammonia Oxidizing Archaea (AOA), as well as Nitrobacter and Nitrospira in rapid sand filters used for groundwater treatment. To investigate the spatial distribution of these guilds, filter material was sampled at four drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in parallel filters of the pre- and after-filtration stages at different locations and depths. The target guilds were quantified by qPCR targeting 16S rRNA and amoA genes. Total bacterial densities (ignoring 16S rRNA gene copy number variation) were high and ranged from 109 to 1010 per gram (1015 to 1016 per m3) of filter material. All examined guilds, except AOA, were stratified at only one of the four DWTPs. Densities varied spatially within filter (intra-filter variation) at two of the DWTPs and in parallel filters (inter-filter variation) at one of the DWTPs. Variation analysis revealed random sampling as the most efficient strategy to yield accurate mean density estimates, with collection of at least 7 samples suggested to obtain an acceptable (below half order of magnitude) density precision. Nitrospira was consistently the most dominant guild (5-10% of total community), and was generally up to 4 orders of magnitude more abundant than Nitrobacter and up to 2 orders of magnitude more abundant than canonical AOBs. These results, supplemented with further analysis of the previously reported diversity of Nitrospira in the studied DWTPs based on 16S rRNA and nxrB gene phylogeny (Gulay et al., 2016; Palomo et al., 2016), indicate that the high Nitrospira abundance is due to their comammox (complete ammonia oxidation) physiology. AOA densities were lower than AOB densities, except in the highly stratified filters, where they were of similar abundance. In conclusion, rapid sand filters are microbially dense, with varying degrees of spatial heterogeneity, which requires replicate sampling for a sufficiently precise determination of total microbial community and specific population densities. A consistently high Nitrospira to bacterial and archaeal AOB density ratio suggests that non-canonical pathways for nitrification may dominate the examined RSFs.

Membrane-aerated biofilm reactors performing autotrophic nitrogen removal can be successfully applied to treat concentrated nitrogen streams. However, their process performance is seriouslyhampered by the growth of nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). In this work we document how sequential aeration can bring the rapid and long-term suppression of NOB and the onset of the activity of anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses confirmed that such shift in performance was mirrored by a change in population densities, with a very drastic reduction of the NOB Nitrospira and Nitrobacter and a 10-fold increase in AnAOB numbers. The study of biofilm sections with relevant 16S rRNA fluorescent probes revealed strongly stratified biofilm structures fostering aerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in biofilm areas close to the membrane surface (rich in oxygen) and AnAOB in regions neighbouring the liquid phase. Both communities were separated by a transition region potentially populated by denitrifying heterotrophic bacteria. AOB and AnAOB bacterial groups were more abundant and diversethan NOB, and dominated by the r-strategists Nitrosomonas europaea and Ca. Brocadia anammoxidans, respectively. Taken together, the present work presents tools to better engineer, monitor andcontrol the microbial communities that support robust, sustainable and efficient nitrogen removal.

Rapid sand filtration (RSF) is an economical way to treat anoxic groundwater around the world. It consists of groundwater aeration followed by passage through a sand filter. The oxidation and removal of ferrous iron, which is commonly found in anoxic groundwaters, is often believed to be a fully physicochemical process. However, persistently low temperatures in RSF across Denmark may negatively affect the kinetics of chemical oxidation. The slower chemical oxidation of ferrous iron may increase the chances for iron bioconversion by neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), which are found naturally in many environments. In this study, we used a combination of a cultivation-based opposing gradient enrichment technique and 16S rRNA gene targeted molecular tools to isolate, quantify and identify FeOB from a RSF. The microscopic quantification of selectively enriched FeOB cells revealed that in RSF, neutrophilic iron oxidizers were present at the level of up to 7 × 105 cells g−1 sediment. The spatial abundance and diversity of FeOB inferred by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting differed greatly both between and within individual sand filters. The results suggest a larger than assumed role of FeOB in iron removal at waterworks using RSF technologies.

Community assembly is a central topic in microbial ecology: how do assembly processes interact and what is the relative contribution of stochasticity and determinism? Here, we exposed replicate flow-through biofilm systems, fed with nitrite-supplemented tap water, to continuous immigration from a source community, present in the tap water, to determine the extent of selection and neutral processes in newly assembled biofilm communities at both the community and the functional guild (of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, NOB) levels. The community composition of biofilms assembled under low and high nitrite loading was described after 40 days of complete nitrite removal. The total community assembly, as well as the NOB guild assembly were largely governed by a combination of deterministic and stochastic processes. Furthermore, we observed deterministic enrichment of certain types of NOB in the biofilms. Specifically, elevated nitrite loading selected for a single Nitrotoga representative, while lower nitrite conditions selected for a number of Nitrospira. Therefore, even when focusing on ecologically coherent ensembles, assembly is the result of complex stochastic and deterministic processes that can only be interrogated by observing multiple assemblies under controlled conditions.

Allylthiourea (ATU) and chlorate (ClO 3 −) are often used to selectively inhibit nitritation and nitratation. In this work we identified challenges with use of these compounds in inhibitory assays with filter material from a biological rapid sand filter for groundwater treatment. Inhibition was investigated in continuous-flow lab-scale columns, packed with filter material from a full-scale filter and supplied with NH 4 + or NO 2 −. ATU concentrations of 0.1–0.5 mM interfered with the indophenol blue method for NH 4 + quantification leading to underestimation of the measured NH 4 + concentration. Interference was stronger at higher ATU levels and resulted in no NH 4 + detection at 0.5 mM ATU. ClO 3 − at typical concentrations for inhibition assays (1–10 mM) inhibited nitratation by less than 6%, while nitritation was instead inhibited by 91% when NH 4 + was supplied. On the other hand, nitratation was inhibited by 67–71% at 10–20 mM ClO 3 − when NO 2 − was supplied, suggesting significant nitratation inhibition at higher NO 2 − concentrations. No chlorite (ClO 2 −) was detected in the effluent, and thus we could not confirm that nitritation inhibition was caused by ClO 3 − reduction to ClO 2 −. In conclusion, ATU and ClO 3 − should be used with caution in inhibition assays, because analytical interference and poor selectivity for the targeted process may affect the experimental outcome and compromise result interpretation.

Here, we document microbial communities in rapid gravity filtration units, specifically serial rapid sand filters (RSFs), termed prefilters (PFs) and after- filters (AFs), fed with anoxic groundwaters low in organic carbon to prepare potable waters. A comprehensive 16S rRNA-based amplicon sequencing survey revealed a core RSF microbiome comprising few bacterial taxa (29-30 genera) dominated by Nitrospirae, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, with a strikingly high abundance (75-87±18%) across five examined waterworks in Denmark. Lineages within the Nitrospira genus consistently comprised the second most and most abundant fraction in PFs (27±23%) and AFs (45.2±23%), respectively, and were far more abundant than typical proteobacterial ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, suggesting a physiology beyond nitrite oxidation for Nitrospira. Within the core taxa, sequences closely related to types with ability to oxidize ammonium, nitrite, iron, manganese and methane as primary growth substrate were identified and dominated in both PFs (73.6±6%) and AFs (61.4±21%), suggesting their functional importance. Surprisingly, operational taxonomic unit richness correlated strongly and positively with sampling location in the drinking water treatment plant (from PFs to AFs), and a weaker negative correlation held for evenness. Significant spatial heterogeneity in microbial community composition was detected in both PFs and AFs, and was higher in the AFs. This is the first comprehensive documentation of microbial community diversity in RSFs treating oligotrophic groundwaters. We have identified patterns of local spatial heterogeneity and dispersal, documented surprising energy-diversity relationships, observed a large and diverse Nitrospira fraction and established a core RSF microbiome.

Rapid gravity sand filtration is a drinking water production technology widely used around the world. Microbially catalyzed processes dominate the oxidative transformation of ammonia, reduced manganese and iron, methane and hydrogen sulfide, which may all be present at millimolar concentrations when groundwater is the source water. In this study, six metagenomes from various locations within a groundwater-fed rapid sand filter (RSF) were analyzed. The community gene catalog contained most genes of the nitrogen cycle, with particular abundance in genes of the nitrification pathway. Genes involved in different carbon fixation pathways were also abundant, with the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway most abundant, consistent with an observed Nitrospira dominance. From the metagenomic data set, 14 near-complete genomes were reconstructed and functionally characterized. On the basis of their genetic content, a metabolic and geochemical model was proposed. The organisms represented by draft genomes had the capability to oxidize ammonium, nitrite, hydrogen sulfide, methane, potentially iron and manganese as well as to assimilate organic compounds. A composite Nitrospira genome was recovered, and amo-containing Nitrospira genome contigs were identified. This finding, together with the high Nitrospira abundance, and the abundance of atypical amo and hao genes, suggests the potential for complete ammonium oxidation by Nitrospira, and a major role of Nitrospira in the investigated RSFs and potentially other nitrifying environments.

The new paradigm for used water treatment suggests the use of short solid retention times (SRT) to minimize organic substrate mineralization and to maximize resource recovery. However, little is known about the microbes and the underlying biogeochemical mechanisms driving these short-SRT systems. In this paper, we report the start-up and operation of a short-SRT enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system operated as a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) fed with preclarified municipal wastewater, which is supplemented with propionate. The microbial community was analysed via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. During start-up (SRT = 8 d), the EBPR was removing up to 99% of the influent phosphate and completely oxidized the incoming ammonia. Furthermore, the sludge showed excellent settling properties. However, once the SRT was shifted to 3.5 days nitrification was inhibited and bacteria of the Thiothrix taxon proliferated in the reactor, thereby leading to filamentous bulking (sludge volume index up to SVI = 1100 mL/g). Phosphorus removal deteriorated during this period, likely due to the out-competition of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) by sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB). Subsequently, SRB activity was suppressed by reducing the anaerobic SRT from 1.2 day to 0.68 day, with a consequent rapid SVI decrease to ∼200 ml/g. The short-SRT EBPR effectively removed phosphate and nitrification was mitigated at SRT = 3 days and oxygen levels ranging from 2 to 3 mg/L.

A mineral coating develops on the filter grain surface when groundwater is treated via rapid sand filtration in drinking water production. The coating changes the physical and chemical properties of the filter material, but little is known about its effect on the activity, colonization, diversity, and abundance of microbiota. This study reveals that a mineral coating can positively affect the colonization and activity of microbial communities in rapid sand filters. To understand this effect, we investigated the abundance, spatial distribution, colonization, and diversity of all and of nitrifying prokaryotes in filter material with various degrees of mineral coating. We also examined the physical and chemical characteristics of the mineral coating. The amount of mineral coating correlated positively with the internal porosity, the packed bulk density, and the biologically available surface area of the filter material. The volumetric NH 4 + removal rate also increased with the degree of mineral coating. Consistently, bacterial 16S rRNA and amoA abundances positively correlated with increased mineral coating levels. Microbial colonization could be visualized mainly within the outer periphery (60.6 ± 35.6 μm) of the mineral coating, which had a thickness of up to 600 ± 51 μm. Environmental scanning electron microscopic (E-SEM) observations suggested an extracellular polymeric substance-rich matrix and submicron-sized bacterial cells. Nitrifier diversity profiles were similar irrespective of the degree of mineral coating, as indicated by pyrosequencing analysis. Overall, our results demonstrate that mineral coating positively affects microbial colonization and activity in rapid sand filters, most likely due to increased volumetric cell abundances facilitated by the large surface area of internal mineral porosity accessible for microbial colonization.

Exploring the variation in microbial community diversity between locations (β diversity) is a central topic in microbial ecology. Currently, there is no consensus on how to set the significance threshold for β diversity. Here, we describe and quantify the technical components of β diversity, including those associated with the process of subsampling. These components exist for any proposed β diversity measurement procedure. Further, we introduce a strategy to set significance thresholds for β diversity of any group of microbial samples using rarefaction, invoking the notion of a meta-community. The proposed technique was applied to several in silico generated operational taxonomic unit (OTU) libraries and experimental 16S rRNA pyrosequencing libraries. The latter represented microbial communities from different biological rapid sand filters at a full-scale waterworks. We observe that β diversity, after subsampling, is inflated by intra-sample differences; this inflation is avoided in the proposed method. In addition, microbial community evenness (Gini 0.08) strongly affects all β diversity estimations due to bias associated with rarefaction. Where published methods to test β significance often fail, the proposed meta-community-based estimator is more successful at rejecting insignificant β diversity values. Applying our approach, we reveal the heterogeneous microbial structure of biological rapid sand filters both within and across filters.

There are few comparitive studies of microbial structure, composition and phylogenetic diversity of the anammox reactors as a function of substrate complexity exist, representing a large gap in the scientific literature.In this study, we applied 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) tag-based 454 pyrosequencing as a deep sequencing approach to 59 biomass samples from 24 different anammox bioreactors together with proper biological replication in order to compare their total and functional (wrt anaerobic ammonium oxidation) microbial diversity. Among 24 sampled bioreactors, 10 of them were full scale implementations treating complex nitrogen-rich wastewaters and 14 were lab-scale implementations treating synthetic wastewaters. We found that nitritation/anammox bioreactors treating complex nitrogen-rich wastewaters were more diverse in terms of total microbial diversity but less diverse at anammox functional diversity than the bioreactors treating synthetic wastewaters inferred from observed OTUs0.03, Chao1, Shannon index and Phylogenetic distance calculations. Differences in total microbial diversity agreed with the ecological theory concerning the positive correlation between substrate complexity and biodiversity (Parrott 2010), but, not (Harris et al. 2012) in the anammox functional guild diversity (functional diversity term was used based on phylogenetic groups known to harbor the anammox metabolic pathway). Classifying the microbial structure of bioreactors according to substrate complexity using weighted UniFrac algorithm explained 29% of the variance where the bioreactor samples of complex nitrogen-rich wastewater feeding was clearly separated from the bioreactor samples of synthetic feeding.Here we examined and compared for the first time microbial diversity of nitritation-anammox reactors that are designed and built individually for treating complex nitrogen-rich and synthetic wastewaters across the world using 16 rRNA gene pyrosequencing. With the aid of replicated genetic snapshots, we revealed the relationship between the microbial diversity of nitritation-anammox reactors operated by different substrate complexity in terms of microbial composition, structure, richness and phylogenetic diversity from two points of view: total and functional diversity.

The recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira has revealed that the metabolic division of labor in nitrification is not obligate as was assumed during the last century. Despite the detection and enrichment of commamox Nitrospira from different nitrifying environments, the ecological relevance of comammox remains unknown. In this study, we analyzed the microbial communities from various locations within a groundwater-fed rapid sand filter (RSF), where Nitrospira were at very high relative abundances. Through metagenomics, a highly abundant composite multi-genome of Nitrospira genus was recovered harboring metabolic capacity for complete ammonia oxidation. We developed a cell extraction strategy that enables the disruption of Nitrospira cell clusters attached to the mineral coating of the sand. Individual cells were identified via fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with Nitrospira-specific 16S rRNA probes and sorted via fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Sorted cells were screened and selected Nitrospira spp. were subject to whole-genome sequencing. The single cell genomes confirmed the genomic presence of a complete ammonia oxidation pathway and revealed clear taxonomic differences with the recently described comammox Nitrospira genomes. The high abundance of comammox Nitrospira spp. together with the low abundance of canonical ammonia oxidizing prokaryotes in the investigated RSF system suggests the essential role of this novel comammox Nitrospira in the RSFs and potentially other nitrifying environments.

Nitrification is often the dominant microbial process in rapid gravity sand filters (RSF), used to treat aerated groundwater to produce drinking water. RSFs harbor diverse microbial communities including a range of ammonia oxidizing clades; Betaproteobacteria (Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira), Archaea, diverse potentially ammonia oxidizing heterotrophs and abundant Nitrospira spp., recently shown to comprise both canonical nitrite oxidizing as well as complete ammonium oxidizing (comammox) types. We examined the contributions of the different ammonia oxidizers to in situ ammonia oxidation, and aimed to elucidate the differences in ecophysiology between the ammonia oxidizing clades that enable them to co-exist in this unique environment. Experiments were conducted using sand columns designed and operated to mimic the conditions in the full-scale parent RSF. RNA and DNA stable isotope probing based on 13C-bicarbonate incorporation during continuous feeding with either ammonium or nitrite as sole energy source implicated Nitrospira spp. and certain ‘heterotrophic’ bacteria in addition to Nitrosomonas spp. in autotrophy during ammonium oxidation in RSFs. Further experimentation aimed to elucidate the ecophysiology of each ammonia oxidizing clade in RSFs, in particular comammox Nitrospira for which little is currently known. Columns were fed with RSF effluent spiked with various concentrations of ammonium ranging from 0.1- 5.0 mg/L delivered at different loading rates to examine the effects of both ammonium loading and oxygen limitation on ammonia oxidizers. Our observations indicate that the native conditions in the RSF used in this study foster the enrichment of comammox Nitrospira, which provides a preliminary step in the description of their ecophysiology.

Rapid sand filtration is an economical way to treat anoxic groundwaters and involves aeration followed by particulate and soluble substrate removal via deep bed filtration. The anoxic source groundwater can contain several potential electron donors (CH4, Fe2+, Mn2+, NH4+ and assimilable organic carbon) while oxygen (O2) is the electron acceptor provided during the aeration process. Numerous previous studies have described neutrophilic iron oxidizers as a bacterial guild with a special niche preference, especially the transition zone between aerobic and anoxic regions, where abiotic chemical oxidation of iron would be retarded. For that reason, no attempts have been documented to describe the density and diversity of iron oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) in oxic neutrophilic environments. Under low temperatures (5 to 10°C) conditions, as typically found in groundwater, extremely low rates of chemical iron oxidation (t1/2: 315min.) have been documented. This assumed slow chemical oxidation of Fe2 + in rapid sand filters may allow certain bacteria to oxidize iron concurrently with the ongoing slow chemical oxidation. Hence, we aimed to investigate the abundance, diversity, and spatial distribution of iron oxidizing bacterial in the highly oxic environments found in typical rapid sand filters.The neutrophilic FeOB were enriched by the Fe2+/O2 opposing gradient technique and quantified by MPN methodology. Diversity fingerprints of the enrichment cultures were obtained with a 16S rRNA targeted DGGE technique, and dominant bands were isolated and sequenced for identification of dominant enrichment members. Enrichment were microscopically examined via CSLM in combination with FeOB specific or generic cytostains to verify enrichments, check cell morphologies and quantify cell densities. Our results indicate that neutrophilic iron oxidizers in highly oxic environments like drinking water treatment systems can be abundant (5 E+04 to 7 E+05 cells per gram of wet sand material). It was furthermore observed that the diversity of the cultivated dominant iron oxidizers differs substantially from those typically observed in aerobic/anoxic transition zones.

Drinking water production from groundwater will often require removal of several compounds such as ammonia, manganese, ferrous iron, methane, sulphides or natural organic matter (NOM). In rapid sand filters this may be mediated through microbial processes. Sometimes the filters unfortunately fail to meet the design criteria, and a deeper insight in the underlying processes would provide a necessary platform to solve the problems. Efficient removal of potential microbial substrates is essential for production of biostable water which is required when the produced drinking water is stored and distributed without a disinfection residual as e.g. in Denmark. We have developed a toolbox including investigations of the presence of required microorganisms. To investigate the presence and density of various microbial fractions, qPCR-methods were established for quantification of ammonium oxidizing (AOB, AOA), nitrite oxidizing (NOB), iron oxidizing (IOB) and methane oxidizing (MeOB) microorganisms. In addition, pyrosequencing of the full microbiome of the sand filters revealed a high diversity, and especially the presence of a very large and dominating population of Nitrospira was surprizing. Nitrification was particularly investigated in full scale filters, and lab-scale CST-columns incubated with depth specific samples of filter material allowed for investigation of the depth specific kinetics and maximum removal capacity. Additionally, pilot scale column experiments allowed for investigation of e.g. increased load of ammonium due to increased hydraulic load versus increased concentration, physical space in the filter material and its surface qualities. A safe operational windows in terms of load was identified during short term up-shifts in the ammonium load to the different columns. This showed the importance of the total load no matter the increase was due to hydraulic load or concentration. Based on the obtained insight the functionality of the filters could be optimized. Addition of limiting micronutrients such as phosphorous or cupper (which specifically stimulating nitrification since cupper is an essential metal in the ammonium mono oxygenase) was able to increase nitrification rate, to overcome incomplete nitrification with accumulation of nitrite, and to reduce the startup time of the microbial processes in new filters. This presentation provides an overview of a number of research projects on biological rapid sand filters conducted during the last 5 years.

Rapid sand filtration is a traditional and common technology for drinking water purification from groundwater. Despite its wide scale and long-term use, the diversity and characterization of microbial communities in these engineered systems have remained unexplored and their roles in removal performances yet to be discovered. In order to explore the microbial ecology of these systems, we conducted 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) based 454 pyrosequencing as a deep sequencing approach to 94 sample cores retrieved from 5 different waterworks including proper biological replication. This comprehensive sampling of replicate rapid sand filters across many waterworks together with high-throughput sequencing provides a first glimpse into the microbial communities in rapid sand filters and their potential roles in the treatment process.

SUMMARYOxygen availability is critical for microbes as some are obligatorily dependent on oxygen for energy conservation. However, aerobic microbes that live in environments with varying oxygen concentrations experience pressures over evolutionary time, selecting alternative energy metabolisms that relax the dependence on oxygen. One such capacity is extracellular electron transfer (or EET), which is the ability to transfer electrons from central metabolism to extracellular oxidants such as iron and manganese oxides. We posit that the β-proteobacterial ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, highly specialized lineages heretofore recognized as strict aerobes, can be capable of EET as they have been constantly observed in oxygen-limiting and depleted environments. Here, we show that a strictly aerobic ammonia-oxidizer, Nitrosomonas communis, utilized a poised electrode to maintain metabolic activity in anoxic conditions. The presence and activity of multi-heme cytochromes suggested that direct electron transfer is the mechanism underlying EET. Molecular clock models suggest that the ancestors of β-proteobacterial ammonia oxidizers appeared after the oxygenation of Earth when the oxygen levels were >10-4pO2 (PAL), suggesting their aerobic origins. Phylogenetic reconciliations of gene and species trees show that the multi-heme c-type EET proteins in Nitrosomonas and Nitrosospira were acquired by gene transfer from β-proteobacteria during oxygen scarcity. The preservation of EET metabolism over billions of years under fluctuating oxygen levels and aspects of EET physiology in β-proteobacterial ammonia oxidizers might explain how they have been coped with oxygen stress and survived under oxygen deprivation.SIGNIFICANCEMetabolic versatility can permit typically aerobic microbes to survive in anaerobic conditions when oxygen is deficient as a terminal electron acceptor. This article demonstrates a previously unidentified anaerobic extracellular electron transfer metabolism that operates in aerobic β–proteobacterial ammonia oxidizers and reconstructs the evolutionary history of this metabolism, linking it to the early history of Earth’s oxygenation. Our approach contributes to the understanding of metabolisms in the N-cycle and their evolution on Earth, as well as how aerobic microbes manage to retain energy generation under oxygen-limiting or depleted conditions.AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSAG designed the physiological research with PRG and the phylogenetic research with GF; AG performed the research, AG analyzed the data with PRG and GF. AG wrote the paper, and all authors edited and approved the manuscript.