Co-bioaugmentation with microalgae and probiotic bacteria: Sustainable solutions for upcycling of aquaculture wastewater and agricultural residues into microbial-rice bran complexes

Abstract

Aquaculture farming generates a significant amount of wastewater, which has prompted the development of creative bioprocesses to improve wastewater treatment and bioresource recovery. One promising method of achieving these aims is to directly recycle pollutants into microbe-rice bran complexes, which is an economical and efficient technique for wastewater treatment that uses synergetic interactions between algae and bacteria. This study explores novel bioaugmentation as a promising strategy for efficiently forming microbial-rice bran complexes in unsterilized aquaculture wastewater enriched with agricultural residues (molasses and rice bran). Results found that rice bran serves a dual role, acting as both an alternative nutrient source and a biomass support for microalgae and bacteria. Co-bioaugmentation, involving the addition of probiotic bacteria (Bacillus syntrophic consortia) and microalgae consortiums (Tetradesmus dimorphus and Chlorella sp.) to an existing microbial community, led to a remarkable 5-fold increase in microbial-rice bran complex yields compared to the non-bioaugmentation approach. This method provided the most compact biofloc structure (0.50 g/L) and a large particle diameter (404 μm). Co-bioaugmentation significantly boosts the synthesis of extracellular polymeric substances, comprising proteins at 6.5 g/L and polysaccharides at 0.28 g/L. Chlorophyta, comprising 80% of the total algal phylum, and Proteobacteria, comprising 51% of the total bacterial phylum, are emerging as dominant species. These microorganisms play a crucial role in waste and wastewater treatment, as well as in the formation of microbial-rice bran complexes that could serve as an alternative aquaculture feed. This approach prompted changes in both microbial community structure and nutrient cycling processes, as well as water quality. These findings provide valuable insights into the transformative effects of bioaugmentation on the development of microbial-rice bran complexes, offering potential applications in bioprocesses for waste and wastewater management.