Polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) are responsible for carrying the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). Although the EBPR process is well studied, the failure of EBPR performance at both laboratory and full-scale plants has revealed a lack of knowledge about the ecological and microbiological aspects of EBPR processes. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria as their sole host. Bacteriophage infection of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) has not been considered as a main contributor to biological phosphorus removal upsets. This study examined the effects of different stress factors on the dynamics of bacteriophages and the corresponding effects on the phosphorus removal performance in a lab-scale EBPR system. The results showed that copper (heavy metal), cyanide (toxic chemical), and ciprofloxacin (antibiotic), as three different anthropogenic stress factors, can induce phages integrated onto bacterial genomes (i.e. prophages) in an enriched EBPR sequencing batch reactor, resulting in a decrease in the polyphosphate kinase gene ppk1 clades copy number, phosphorus accumulation capacity, and phosphorus removal performance. This study opens opportunities for further research on the effects of bacteriophages in nutrient cycles both in controlled systems such as wastewater treatment plants and natural ecosystems.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 September 2016.
All research outputs
#14,913,921
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Water Research
#5,810
of 11,875 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#134,627
of 278,750 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Water Research
#30
of 70 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 40th percentile – i.e., 40% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 11,875 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 5.0. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 278,750 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 70 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its contemporaries.
