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  • Meta-omic profiling reveals ubiquity of genes encoding for the nitrogen-rich biopolymer cyanophycin in activated sludge microbiomes
Title: Meta-omic profiling reveals ubiquity of genes encoding for the nitrogen-rich biopolymer cyanophycin in activated sludge microbiomes
Recovering nitrogen (N) from municipal wastewater is a promising approach to prevent nutrient pollution, reduce energy use, and transition toward a circular N bioeconomy, but remains a technologically challenging endeavor. Existing N recovery techniques are optimized for high-strength, low-volume wastewater. Therefore, developing methods to concentrate dilute N from mainstream wastewater will bridge the gap between existing technologies and practical implementation. The N-rich biopolymer cyanophycin is a promising candidate for N bioconcentration due to its pH-tunable solubility characteristics and potential for high levels of accumulation. However, the cyanophycin synthesis pathway is poorly explored in engineered microbiomes. In this study, we analyzed over 3,700 publicly available metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) and found that the cyanophycin synthesis genecphAwas ubiquitous across common activated sludge bacteria. We found thatcphAwas present in common phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAO)Ca.‘Accumulibacter’ andTetrasphaera,suggesting potential for simultaneous N and P bioconcentration in the same organisms. Using metatranscriptomic data, we confirmed the expression ofcphAin lab-scale bioreactors enriched with PAO. Our findings suggest that cyanophycin synthesis is a ubiquitous metabolic activity in activated sludge microbiomes. The possibility of combined N and P bioconcentration could lower barriers to entry for N recovery, since P concentration by PAO is already a widespread biotechnology in municipal wastewater treatment. We anticipate this work to be a starting point for future evaluations of combined N and P bioaccumulation, with the ultimate goal of advancing widespread adoption of N recovery from municipal wastewater.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2033793
PAR ID:
10552582
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Frontiers
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume:
14
ISSN:
1664-302X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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