Identification of Bacterial Species with Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur Bioremediation Pathways in Wastewater Treatment Plants

Laura Rodrigues Araújo and Aulus Estevão Anjos de Deus Barbosa

Background and Objective: Contamination of water bodies is one of the most impacting anthropogenic activities to the environment, therefore, it is important to understand the biological processes that allow the wastewater bioremediation. The objective of this study was to identify the main bacterial genera present in sewage treatment plants and of which are these species have genes that participate in the degradation or accumulation pathways of nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Materials and Methods: Genomes of 158 bacteria species, isolated from sewage treatment plants, were analyzed in search of the following pathways: nitrification, denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction, phosphorus accumulation, assimilatory sulfate reduction and dissimilatory sulfate reduction and oxidation. Results: Seventy-nine bacteria species had at least one of the complete pathways, of which 11 had 3 or more complete pathways: Acidovorax caeni, Acidovorax delafieldii, Acidovorax temperans, Burkholderia vietnamiensis, Comamonas thiooxydans, Nitrobacter vulgaris, Nitrobacter winogradskyi, Paracoccus denitrificans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Thiothrixnivea. Paracoccus denitrificans stands out for having the largest number of complete pathways, possessing the genes of denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction, assimilatory sulfate reduction and phosphorus accumulation processes. Conclusion: Therefore, the conclusion of this study can be used to improve the optimization of wastewater treatment processes, indicating bacteria that are more adapted for bioremediation: Paracoccus denitrificans, Thiothrixnivea and Nitrospiranitrosa.

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