Metagenomic analysis of microbial community structure and function in a improved biofilter with odorous gases

Biofilters have been broadly applied to degrade the odorous gases from industrial emissions. A industrial scale biofilter was set up to treat the odorous gases. To explore biofilter potentials, the microbial community structure and function must be well defined. Using of improved biofilter, the differences in microbial community structures and functions in biofilters before and after treatment were investigated by metagenomic analysis. Odorous gases have the potential to alter the microbial community structure in the sludge of biofilter. A total of 90,016 genes assigned into various functional metabolic pathways were identified. In the improved biofilter, the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi, and the dominant genera were Thioalkalivibrio, Thauera, and Pseudomonas. Several xenobiotic biodegradation-related pathways showed significant changes during the treatment process. Compared with the original biofilter, Thermotogae and Crenarchaeota phyla were significantly enriched in the improved biofilter, suggesting their important role in nitrogen-fixing. Furthermore, several nitrogen metabolic pathway-related genes, such as nirA and nifA, and sulfur metabolic pathway-related genes, such as fccB and phsA, were considered to be efficient genes that were involved in removing odorous gases. Our findings can be used for improving the efficiency of biofilter and helping the industrial enterprises to reduce the emission of waste gases.

Automated summary

This study used metagenomic analysis to investigate the differences in microbial community structures and functions in biofilters before and after treatment with odorous gases. The results showed that odorous gases can alter the microbial community structure in the biofilter. The improved biofilter had dominant phyla such as Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi, and dominant genera such as Thioalkalivibrio, Thauera, and Pseudomonas. Several metabolic pathways related to xenobiotic biodegradation showed significant changes during the treatment process. The findings suggest that certain phyla and genes play important roles in nitrogen-fixing and removing odorous gases in the biofilter.