Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years
Abstract Background Microbial communities in both natural and applied settings reliably carry out myriads of functions, yet how stable these taxonomically diverse assemblages can be and what causes them to transition between states remains poorly understood. We studied monthly activated sludge (AS)...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Microbiome |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01151-5 |
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| author | Yulin Wang Jun Ye Feng Ju Lei Liu Joel A. Boyd Yu Deng Donovan H. Parks Xiaotao Jiang Xiaole Yin Ben J. Woodcroft Gene W. Tyson Philip Hugenholtz Martin F. Polz Tong Zhang |
| author_facet | Yulin Wang Jun Ye Feng Ju Lei Liu Joel A. Boyd Yu Deng Donovan H. Parks Xiaotao Jiang Xiaole Yin Ben J. Woodcroft Gene W. Tyson Philip Hugenholtz Martin F. Polz Tong Zhang |
| author_sort | Yulin Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Microbial communities in both natural and applied settings reliably carry out myriads of functions, yet how stable these taxonomically diverse assemblages can be and what causes them to transition between states remains poorly understood. We studied monthly activated sludge (AS) samples collected over 9 years from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant to answer how complex AS communities evolve in the long term and how the community functions change when there is a disturbance in operational parameters. Results Here, we show that a microbial community in activated sludge (AS) system fluctuated around a stable average for 3 years but was then abruptly pushed into an alternative stable state by a simple transient disturbance (bleaching). While the taxonomic composition rapidly turned into a new state following the disturbance, the metabolic profile of the community and system performance remained remarkably stable. A total of 920 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), representing approximately 70% of the community in the studied AS ecosystem, were recovered from the 97 monthly AS metagenomes. Comparative genomic analysis revealed an increased ability to aggregate in the cohorts of MAGs with correlated dynamics that are dominant after the bleaching event. Fine-scale analysis of dynamics also revealed cohorts that dominated during different periods and showed successional dynamics on seasonal and longer time scales due to temperature fluctuation and gradual changes in mean residence time in the reactor, respectively. Conclusions Our work highlights that communities can assume different stable states under highly similar environmental conditions and that a specific disturbance threshold may lead to a rapid shift in community composition. Video Abstract |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:57:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-30ba3b8685864fc68ea910abef650baa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-2618 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:57:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiome |
| spelling | doaj.art-30ba3b8685864fc68ea910abef650baa2022-12-21T19:54:15ZengBMCMicrobiome2049-26182021-10-019111510.1186/s40168-021-01151-5Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 yearsYulin Wang0Jun Ye1Feng Ju2Lei Liu3Joel A. Boyd4Yu Deng5Donovan H. Parks6Xiaotao Jiang7Xiaole Yin8Ben J. Woodcroft9Gene W. Tyson10Philip Hugenholtz11Martin F. Polz12Tong Zhang13Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandSchool of Engineering, Westlake UniversityEnvironmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandEnvironmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandEnvironmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongEnvironmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of QueenslandDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyEnvironmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of Hong KongAbstract Background Microbial communities in both natural and applied settings reliably carry out myriads of functions, yet how stable these taxonomically diverse assemblages can be and what causes them to transition between states remains poorly understood. We studied monthly activated sludge (AS) samples collected over 9 years from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant to answer how complex AS communities evolve in the long term and how the community functions change when there is a disturbance in operational parameters. Results Here, we show that a microbial community in activated sludge (AS) system fluctuated around a stable average for 3 years but was then abruptly pushed into an alternative stable state by a simple transient disturbance (bleaching). While the taxonomic composition rapidly turned into a new state following the disturbance, the metabolic profile of the community and system performance remained remarkably stable. A total of 920 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), representing approximately 70% of the community in the studied AS ecosystem, were recovered from the 97 monthly AS metagenomes. Comparative genomic analysis revealed an increased ability to aggregate in the cohorts of MAGs with correlated dynamics that are dominant after the bleaching event. Fine-scale analysis of dynamics also revealed cohorts that dominated during different periods and showed successional dynamics on seasonal and longer time scales due to temperature fluctuation and gradual changes in mean residence time in the reactor, respectively. Conclusions Our work highlights that communities can assume different stable states under highly similar environmental conditions and that a specific disturbance threshold may lead to a rapid shift in community composition. Video Abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01151-5Microbial communityAlternative stable statesTime-seriesActivated sludgeDisturbanceStability |
| spellingShingle | Yulin Wang Jun Ye Feng Ju Lei Liu Joel A. Boyd Yu Deng Donovan H. Parks Xiaotao Jiang Xiaole Yin Ben J. Woodcroft Gene W. Tyson Philip Hugenholtz Martin F. Polz Tong Zhang Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years Microbiome Microbial community Alternative stable states Time-series Activated sludge Disturbance Stability |
| title | Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| title_full | Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| title_fullStr | Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| title_short | Successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| title_sort | successional dynamics and alternative stable states in a saline activated sludge microbial community over 9 years |
| topic | Microbial community Alternative stable states Time-series Activated sludge Disturbance Stability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-021-01151-5 |
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