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Lookup NU author(s): Shamas Tabraiz, Dr Evangelos Petropoulos, Dr Burhan ShamuradORCiD, Marcos Quintela-Baluja, Sanjay Mohapatra, Dr Kishor AcharyaORCiD, Alex Charlton-Milligan, Professor Russell DavenportORCiD, Dr Jan DolfingORCiD, Dr Paul Sallis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
© 2021 Elsevier LtdQuorum sensing (QS), a microbial communication mechanism modulated by acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) molecules impacts biofilm formation in bioreactors. This study investigated the effects of temperature and immigration on AHL levels and biofouling in anaerobic membrane bioreactors. The hypothesis was that the immigrant microbial community would increase the AHL-mediated QS, thus stimulating biofouling and that low temperatures would exacerbate this. We observed that presence of immigrants, especially when exposed to low temperatures indeed increased AHL concentrations and fouling in the biofilms on the membranes. At low temperature, the concentrations of the main AHLs observed, N-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone and N-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, were significantly higher in the biofilms than in the sludge and correlated significantly with the abundance of immigrant bacteria. Apparently low temperature, immigration and denser community structure in the biofilm stressed the communities, triggering AHL production and excretion. These insights into the social behaviour of reactor communities responding to low temperature and influx of immigrants have implications for biofouling control in bioreactors.
Author(s): Tabraiz S, Petropoulos E, Shamurad B, Quintela-Baluja M, Mohapatra S, Acharya K, Charlton A, Davenport RJ, Dolfing J, Sallis PJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Environmental Management
Year: 2021
Volume: 293
Print publication date: 01/09/2021
Online publication date: 11/06/2021
Acceptance date: 10/05/2021
Date deposited: 21/07/2021
ISSN (print): 0301-4797
ISSN (electronic): 1095-8630
Publisher: Academic Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112947
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112947
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