Abstract
Periphyton is an effective matrix for the removal of pollutants in wastewater and has been considered a promising method of bioremediation. However, it still needs to be verified whether periphyton can maintain microbial activity and pollutant removal efficiency when dealing with the influence with complex components, and the underlying mechanisms of periphyton need to be revealed further. Herein, this study investigated the microbial growth, activity and functional responses of periphyton after removal of Cu from wastewater. Results showed that the cultivated periphyton was dominated by filamentous algae, and high Cu removal efficiencies by periphyton were obtained after 108 h treatments. Although 2 mg/L Cu2+ changed the microalgal growth (decreasing the contents of total chlorophyll-a (Chla), the carbon source utilization and microbial metabolic activity in periphyton were not significantly affected and even increased by 2 mg/L Cu2+. Moreover, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were sustained after 0.5 and 2 mg/L Cu2+ treatments. Our work showed that periphyton had strong tolerance and resistance on Cu stress and is environmentally friendly in dealing with wastewater containing heavy metals, as the microbial functions in pollutant removal could be maintained.
Highlights
Bioremediation is an important way to control or remove the amount of hazardous waste at pollutant places using the aggregations of microorganisms [1,2]
The periphyton was dominated by algal groups, especially filamentous algae, and the microbial cells were surrounded by extracellular polymeric substances
High Cu removal efficiencies were observed by periphyton with various concentrations (0.5 to 2 mg/L)
Summary
Bioremediation is an important way to control or remove the amount of hazardous waste at pollutant places using the aggregations of microorganisms [1,2]. Having been used and studied for several decades, the in situ bioremediation technology has not received the results as expected and was not very successful due to the limitations of the decreased ecological steadiness under changing environments [1,5]. Periphyton is important for the ecological functions of aquatic environments, playing crucial roles in primary productivity, trophic transfer of nutrients and food source biomasses in aquatic ecosystems [8,13,14]. Due to these characteristics and immobilization properties, periphyton becomes an underlying regulator of extra waste materials in water environments [7,15]
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