Inhibition of Cyanobacterial Growth on a Municipal Wastewater Sidestream Is Impacted by Temperature

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are viewed as promising platforms to produce fuels and/or high-value chemicals as part of so-called “biorefineries.” Their integration into wastewater treatment systems is particularly interesting because removal of the nitrogen and phosphorus in many wastewater streams is an expensive but necessary part of wastewater treatment. In this study, we evaluated strategies for cultivating Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 on media comprised of two wastewater streams, i.e., treated secondary effluent supplemented with the liquid fraction extracted from sludge following anaerobic digestion. This strain is commonly used for metabolic engineering to produce a variety of valuable chemical products and product precursors (e.g., lactate). However, initial attempts to grow PCC 7002 under otherwise-standard conditions of light and temperature failed. We thus systematically evaluated alternative cultivation conditions and then used multiple methods to dissect the apparent toxicity of the media under standard cultivation conditions.

Biotransformation of 2,4‐dinitrotoluene in a phototrophic co‐culture of engineered Synechococcus elongatus and Pseudomonas putida

“…2A). Likewise, the content of chlorophyll a [Chl(a)], the loss of which is an indicator of physiological stress and cell death (Sauer et al, 2001;Latifi et al, 2009;Korosh et al, 2018), declined rapidly in S. elongatus cells exposed to 2,4-DNT concentrations above 30 lM (Fig. 2B and Fig.…”

The usage of Cyanobacteria in wastewater treatment: prospects and limitations

“…In the particular strategies for wastewater management, the growth of non-toxic Cyanobacterial species is Letters in Applied Microbiology 75, 718--730 © 2021 The Society for Applied Microbiology intentionally encouraged to expedite bioremediation and to produce biomass for biofuel production (Korosh et al 2018).…”

Dissolved organic nutrients at the interface of fresh and marine waters: flow regime changes, biogeochemical cascades and picocyanobacterial blooms—the example of Florida Bay, USA

“…If, indeed, humic concentrations increased, there is also potential for it to have elicited direct stress responses, as has been shown for many phototrophs, including production of hydroxyl radicals (Lee et al 2013;Zhang et al 2014). But Synechococcus is known to have exceptional tolerance to high light, salt and other environmental stresses and recent evidence suggests that at least one strain of Synechococcus is relatively tolerant of the negative effects of humic substances on photosynthesis unless the temperatures are much greater than 27°C (Korosh et al 2018). The potential for additional interactions between organic compounds and inorganic nutrient availability are discussed below.…”