Shifts in the microbial community, nitrifiers and denitrifiers in the biofilm in a full-scale rotating biological contactor.

The objective of this study was to investigate the microbial community shifts, especially nitrifiers and denitrifiers, in the biofilm of two rotating biological contactor (RBC) trains with different running times along the plug flowpath. The microbial consortia were profiled using multiple approaches, including 454 high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene, clone libraries, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The results demonstrated that (1) the overall microbial community at different locations had distinct patterns, that is, there were similar microbial communities at the beginnings of the two RBC trains and completely different populations at the ends of the two RBC trains; (2) nitrifiers, including ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB, Nitrosomonas) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB, Nitrospira), increased in relative abundance in the biofilm along the flowpath, whereas denitrifiers (Rhodanobacter, Paracoccus, Thauera, and Azoarcus) markedly decreased; (3) the AOA were subdominant to the AOB in all sampled sections; and (4) strong ecological associations were shown among different bacteria. Overall, the results of this study provided more comprehensive information regarding the biofilm community composition and assemblies in full-scale RBCs.