Diversity, Co-occurrence and Implications of Fungal Communities in Wastewater Treatment Plants

Abstract

Three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Gauteng province in South Africa were investigated to determine the diversity, co-occurrence and implications of their fungal communities using illumina sequencing platform and network analysis. Phylogenetic taxonomy revealed that members of the fungal communities were assigned to 6 phyla and 361 genera. Basidiomycota and Ascomycota were the most abundant phyla, dominated by the genera Naumovozyma, Pseudotomentella, Derxomyces, Ophiocordyceps, Pulchromyces and Paecilomyces. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of fungal OTUs related to class lineages such as Agaricomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Sordariomycetes indicating new fungal diversity in WWTPs. Dominant and rare fungal genera that can potentially be used in bioremediation such as Trichoderma, Acremonium, Talaromyces, Paecilomyces, cladophialophora and Saccharomyces were detected. Conversely, genera whose members are known to be pathogenic to human and plant such as Olpidium, Paecilomyces, Aspergillus, Rhodotorula, Penicillium, Candida, Synchytrium, Phyllosticta and Mucor were also detected in all WWTPs. Phylotype analysis confirmed that some fungal phylotypes were highly similar to the reported fungal pathogens of concern. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that the fungal genera such as Minimedusa, Glomus, Circinella, Coltricia, Caloplaca, Phylosticta, Peziza, Candida, and Hydnobolites were the major networking hub in the WWTPs. The overall results in this study highlighted that WWTPs represent a potential source of beneficial fungi for bioremediation of pollutants in the ecosystem and the need to consider human and plant fungal pathogens during safety evaluation of treated wastewater for reuse.

Mold and Yeast-Like Fungi in the Seaside Air of the Gulf of Gdańsk (Southern Baltic) after an Emergency Disposal of Raw Sewage

“…[ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Potentially pathogenic fungi, such as Olpidium, Paecilomyces, Aspergillus, Rhodotorula, Penicillium, Candida, Synchytrium, Phyllosticta, and Mucor have been detected in three wastewater treatment plants located in the Gauteng province of the Republic of South Africa [ 45 ]. In Portuguese studies, mold fungi Aspergillus , Fusarium, and yeast-like fungi Candida were found in beach sand contaminated with leaking toilet sewage [ 12 ].…”

Evaluation of the Potential of Sewage Sludge Mycobiome to Degrade High Diclofenac and Bisphenol-A Concentrations

“…Additionally, Ascomycota predominantly represented the composition of the fungal community in hospital wastewaters [ 68 ]. This diversity of fungi is common in populations of wastewater treatment plants [ 69 , 70 ]. Several studies demonstrated the use of different species of the genera Penicillium , Aspergillus, and Trichoderma as a useful tool in different biological sludge treatments [ 29 ].…”

Effects of the chlorination and pressure flushing of drippers fed by reclaimed wastewater on biofouling

“…Sordariomycetes, Tremellomycetes and Chytridiomycetes were still present in chlorinated biofilms, when Dothideomycetes or Pezizomycotina were only recovered in control and purge drippers. Sordariomycetes, Tremellomycetes and Chytridiomycetes are commonly found in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants and are involved in water treatment (Assress et al, 2019). Sordariomycetes has also been detected as dominant in biofilms from drinking water distribution systems (0.05 ppm to 0.8 ppm of free chlorine) (Fish and Boxall, 2018).…”