Prokaryotic viruses impact functional microorganisms in nutrient removal and carbon cycle in wastewater treatment plants

• Published in: Nature communications 2021-09, Vol.12 (1), p.5398-5398, Article 5398
• Main Authors: Chen, Yiqiang, Wang, Yulin, Paez-Espino, David, Polz, Martin F., Zhang, Tong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 45/23; 631/326/171; 704/158/855; Activated sludge; Aerobic microorganisms; Anaerobic microorganisms; Archaea - classification; Archaea - genetics; Archaea - virology; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - virology; Biotechnology; Carbon Cycle; Energy Metabolism - genetics; environmental microbiology; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Foaming; Genes, Viral - genetics; Genetic Variation; Heterotrophic microorganisms; Heterotrophs; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Metagenomics; microbial ecology; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Natural environment; Nutrient cycles; Nutrient removal; Open Reading Frames - genetics; Phages; Prokaryotic Cells - metabolism; Prokaryotic Cells - virology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sequence Analysis, DNA - methods; Sewage - microbiology; Sewage - virology; Viral infections; Virome - genetics; Viruses; Viruses - classification; Viruses - genetics; Viruses - metabolism; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water Purification - methods; Water treatment
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25678-1

As one of the largest biotechnological applications, activated sludge (AS) systems in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) harbor enormous viruses, with 10-1,000-fold higher concentrations than in natural environments. However, the compositional variation and host-connections of AS viruses remain poorly explored. Here, we report a catalogue of ~50,000 prokaryotic viruses from six WWTPs, increasing the number of described viral species of AS by 23-fold, and showing the very high viral diversity which is largely unknown (98.4-99.6% of total viral contigs). Most viral genera are represented in more than one AS system with 53 identified across all. Viral infection widely spans 8 archaeal and 58 bacterial phyla, linking viruses with aerobic/anaerobic heterotrophs, and other functional microorganisms controlling nitrogen/phosphorous removal. Notably, Mycobacterium, notorious for causing AS foaming, is associated with 402 viral genera. Our findings expand the current AS virus catalogue and provide reference for the phage treatment to control undesired microorganisms in WWTPs. Activated sludge (AS) systems in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) contain high concentration of viruses. Here, the authors apply a systematic metagenomic pipeline and retrieve a catalogue of around 50,000 prokaryotic viruses from samples of six WWTPs, revealing a large and uncharacterized viral diversity in AS communities.