Clay flocculation effect on microbial community composition in water and sediment

Chen, C, Pan, G ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0920-3018, Shi, W, Xu, F, Techtmann, SM, Pfiffner, SM and Hazen, TC, 2018. Clay flocculation effect on microbial community composition in water and sediment. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 6: 60. ISSN 2296-665X

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Abstract

Clay-based flocculation techniques have been developed to mitigate harmful algal blooms; however, the potential ecological impacts on the microbial community are poorly understood. In this study, chemical measurements were combined with 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize the microbial community response to different flocculation techniques, including controls, clay flocculation, clay flocculation with zeolite, and clay flocculation with O2 added zeolite capping. Sediment bacterial biomass measured by PLFA were not significantly altered by the various flocculation techniques used. However, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed differences in water microbial community structure between treatments with and without zeolite capping. The differences were related to significant reductions of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and ammonia (NH4+) concentration and increase of nitrate (NO3-) concentration in zeolite and O2 loaded zeolite capping. The relative abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria increased four-fold in zeolite capping microcosms, suggesting zeolite promoted absorbed ammonia removal in the benthic zone. Zeolite-capping promoted bacteria nitrogen cycling activities at the water-sediment interface. Potential pathogens that are usually adapted to eutrophic water bodies were reduced after clay flocculation. This study demonstrated clay flocculation did not decrease bacterial populations overall and may reduce regulatory indicators and pathogenic contaminants in water. Zeolite capping may also help prevent nutrients from being released back into the water thus preventing additional algal blooms.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Environmental Science
Creators:	Chen, C., Pan, G., Shi, W., Xu, F., Techtmann, S.M., Pfiffner, S.M. and Hazen, T.C.
Publisher:	Frontiers Research Foundation
Date:	2018
Volume:	6
ISSN:	2296-665X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fenvs.2018.00060 DOI
Rights:	Copyright © 2018 Chen, Pan, Shi, Xu, Techtmann, Pfiffner and Hazen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	28 Jun 2018 11:34
Last Modified:	28 Jun 2018 11:34
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/33940

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