Effects of exogenous quorum quenching on microbial community dynamics and biofouling propensity of activated sludge in MBRs

Abstract

Recently, bacterial quorum quenching (QQ) has been proven as a novel approach for biofouling mitigation in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). The information about microbial community is vital for the development of QQ strategies. Also, the change of microbial community may affect the biofouling propensity of sludge. In this study, the effects of exogenous QQ on microbial community dynamics in MBRs were investigated, along with biofouling propensity of activated sludge. QQ MBR dosed with exogenous QQ bacteria exhibited a better anti-biofouling, whereas the wastewater treatment performance was almost no difference compared with control MBR. As for the microbial community, exogenous QQ had an impact on both the bacterial diversities and community composition, especially for the quorum sensing (QS) and QQ bacteria in situ. The addition of exogenous QQ could reduce the QQ ability of sludge itself in the short term, and enhance its biofouling propensity. These findings provided new insights for the development of QQ strategies.