MiDAS: the field guide to the microbes of activated sludge.

Simon Jon Mcilroy,Bianca Mcilroy,Mads Albertsen,Søren Michael Karst,Aaron Marc Saunders,Per Halkjær Nielsen,Marta Nierychlo,Aviaja Anna Hansen,Jeppe Lund Nielsen

doi:10.1093/database/bav062

Simon Jon Mcilroy, Bianca Mcilroy + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/database/bav062

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Journal: Database	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2015
Citations: 221	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Aalborg University

Abstract

The Microbial Database for Activated Sludge (MiDAS) field guide is a freely available online resource linking the identity of abundant and process critical microorganisms in activated sludge wastewater treatment systems to available data related to their functional importance. Phenotypic properties of some of these genera are described, but most are known only from sequence data. The MiDAS taxonomy is a manual curation of the SILVA taxonomy that proposes a name for all genus-level taxa observed to be abundant by large-scale 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of full-scale activated sludge communities. The taxonomy can be used to classify unknown sequences, and the online MiDAS field guide links the identity to the available information about their morphology, diversity, physiology and distribution. The use of a common taxonomy across the field will provide a solid foundation for the study of microbial ecology of the activated sludge process and related treatment processes. The online MiDAS field guide is a collaborative workspace intended to facilitate a better understanding of the ecology of activated sludge and related treatment processes—knowledge that will be an invaluable resource for the optimal design and operation of these systems.Database URL: http://www.midasfieldguide.org

Highlights

Activated sludge is a wastewater treatment technology that employs a diverse consortium of microbes for the removal of nutrients from wastewater streams that would otherwise contribute to the eutrophication of the receiving water bodies [1]
The starting list of 152 genera has been populated by organisms found to be abundant and/or important in full-scale treatment plants, based on extensive surveys with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) [6, 16] and 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing
RDP was marginally better than SILVA and Greengenes, it did not perform well for higher-level classifications, with 9% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) not classified to a phylum

Summary

Introduction

Activated sludge is a wastewater treatment technology that employs a diverse consortium of microbes for the removal of nutrients from wastewater streams that would otherwise contribute to the eutrophication of the receiving water bodies [1]. The starting list of 152 genera has been populated by organisms found to be abundant and/or important in full-scale treatment plants, based on extensive surveys with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) [6, 16] and 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Sludge-derived phylotypes have previously been associated with hydrolysis of organic material [26], denitrification [27], fermentation [28] and nitrite oxidation [29], highlighting the value of genus-level classification and characterization in understanding the dynamics that determine the ecology of members of the phylum Such important information is currently overlooked when other popular taxonomies are applied.

B45 Caldilinea Caldilinea

16 S rRNA gene copy number

Findings

Concluding remarks