The interference of nonylphenol (NP) with humans and animals, especially in hormone systems, has been well-studied. There is rarely any record of its effect on bacteria, which dominate in various environments. In our study, we employed Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 as a model microorganism and took its common lifestyle biofilm, mainly regulated by quorum sensing (QS), as a cut-in point to investigate the effect of NP (1, 5, 10 mg L⁻¹) on bacteria. The results showed that more than 5 mg L⁻¹ of NP did interfere with biofilm formation and affected bacterial QS. In detail, the LasI/R circuit, but not the RhlI/R circuit, was considerably obstructed. The decrease in lasI and lasR expression resulted in a significant reduction in N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC₁₂-HSL) signals and the downstream production of elastases. Docking results indicated the binding of NP with LasR protein, simulating the binding of 3OC₁₂-HSL with LasR protein, which explained the obstruction of the LasIR circuit. We concluded that NP competed with 3OC₁₂-HSL and blocked 3OC₁₂-HSL binding with the LasR protein, resulting in a direct interference in bacterial biofilm formation. This is the first report of NP interference with bacterial signaling, which is not only helpful to understand the effect of NP on various ecosystems, but is also beneficial to enrich our knowledge of inter-kingdom communication.

Bacterial quorum sensing signal molecules N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) (C10-HSL, 3-OXO-C10-HSL and 3-OH-C10-HSL) as possible chemical cues were employed to investigate the role in the formation of fouling diatom-biofilm (Cylindrotheca sp.). Results showed that AHLs promoted Chlorophyll a (Chl.a) and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) contents in the diatom-biofilm. In the presence of AHLs-inhibitor 3, 4-Dibromo-2(5)H-furanone, which was used to avoid the possible interference of AHLs from bacteria, AHLs also increased the Chl.a and EPS contents. Scanning electron microscope and confocal laser scanning microscope analysis further demonstrated that AHLs promoted the formation of the diatom-biofilm. Non-invasive micro-test technique showed that AHLs promoted Ca2+ efflux in Cylindrotheca sp., which implied that Ca2+ might be correlated with AHLs-induced positive effect on the formation of diatom-biofilm. This study provides direct evidences that AHLs play an important role in developing the diatom-biofilm and AHLs-inhibitors might be promising active agents in marine antifouling.

Effects of sludge retention times (SRTs) on system performance, microbial structure and quorum sensing in an activated sludge bioreactor were investigated. SRTs significantly (ANOVA, p < 0.05) affected the total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal. Significant (Tukey's HSD, p < 0.05) higher TIN removal efficiency was achieved at the SRT of 5 days (72.3%) than at SRTs of 15 (71.3%) and 25 (67.7%) days, respectively. This could be partially explained by the effect of SRT on the sludge properties, abundance of denitrifying bacterium and genes, and quorum sensing (QS) signals (e.g., N‐acyl‐L‐homoserine lactones (AHLs)). Specifically, a short SRT resulted in a high protein content in tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances (TEPS), which could be an indicator for compact sludge structure. Furthermore, denitrifying bacterium including Candidatus Competibacter, Thauera and Zoogloea and denitrifying genes including napAB, nirS, norB and nosZ were enriched at a short SRT. Moreover, N-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone and N-3-(oxododecanoyl)-homoserine lactone were the dominating AHLs in the water, EPS and biomass phases of activated sludge and a particular high content of these AHLs was found in sludge at a short SRT. Based on the metagenomic results, functional microorganisms carried both nitrogen metabolism genes and AHLs synthesis genes, allowing their interactions with other autotrophs or heterotrophs through nitrogen conversion and QS signal exchange. Identification of QS and its possible roles in activated sludge systems under different operational conditions may provide potential strategies through QS regulation for enhancing system performance and microbial aggregation capability.

In this study, partial nitrification algal-bacterial granular sludge system was cultivated when treating ammonium-rich wastewater. With 200 mg/L influent NH₄-N concentration, the effluent NH₄-N, NO₂-N and NO₃-N concentrations were maintained at 62.3 mg/L, 67.1 mg/L, and 7.8 mg/L, making it as an ideal influent for anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox). The combined stress of algae growth and free nitrous acid (FNA) should be responsible for partial nitrification in algal-bacterial granular sludge system. The concentration of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs, quorum sensing molecule) in the effluent of RL was up to 772.5 ng/L, much higher than that (592.8 ng/L) in the effluent of control without light irradiation (RC), leading to enhanced EPS production and granulation in the partial nitrification algal-bacterial granular sludge system. Because of the growth of algae (Chlorella, Scenedesmus, and Navicula), the lipid content in the algal-bacterial granules was 57.4 mg/g-SS, which was about 1.7 times higher than that in the granules from RC, making the algal-bacterial granule a value-added biomass. The relative abundance of Nitrosomonadaceae (AOB) slightly decreased from 5.4% in RC to 3.8% in RL, while Nitrospiraceae (NOB) was completely inhibited in algal-bacterial granules.

Nanoparticles can undergo aging phenomena in sewage treatment systems, which alter their physical and chemical properties. However, the effect of aged nanoparticles on the dewatering performance of activated sludge under long-term low concentrations is yet to be reported in sewage treatment systems. Here, we compared the chronic effects of pristine and aged TiO₂ nanoparticles on the sludge dewatering index, which includes specific resistance to filtration (SRF) and bound water (BW) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) at μg/L concentration levels, and analyzed the relevant mechanisms. The results indicated that aging in the sludge supernatant altered the photosensitivity and water stability of nanoparticles, which was mainly due to the changes in the zeta potential and energy band of the particle and was ultimately attributed to the combined effect of particle surface inclusions such as organic matter and inorganic salt. At 10 μg/L, nanoparticles reduced the sludge dewaterability, which observed an improvement at 100 μg/L. This is because 10 μg/L promoted the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which regulated the structure of sludge flora and increased the abundance of secreted quorum sensing-acyl-homoserine lactones (QS-AHL) and EPS genera, while the corresponding exposure results for 100 μg/L were the opposite, owing to the damage and necrosis effects caused by exposure under long-term light, which reduced EPS production and increased sludge density. Interestingly, aging could alleviate the effects of two exposure concentrations on sludge dewatering, mainly because of the decrease in the photoactivity of the nanoparticles. The results of this study show that environmental aging could delay, but not reverse the results of exposure to specific concentrations of nanoparticles. However, the significantly different ecological effects of photosensitive nanoparticles with two environmentally relevant concentration should be refined and confirmed again in freshwater environments to provide a basis for subsequent scientific management and control of photosensitive nanoparticles.

Hydrodynamic cavitation treatment was used for the functional inactivation of quorum-sensing lactone molecules of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Hydroxyl radicals formed as well as the shear effects during the cavitation process induced the inactivation of the signal molecules through hydrolysis reaction coupled with bacterial destruction. Concentration of two different types of homoserine lactones (HSL) molecules was tested after the treatment at various rotational speeds. It was found that the strongest effects can be achieved at speeds > 2000 rpm. This value is considered as an onset speed of dominant cavitation, and it is in agreement with literature data. The experimental trends were in agreement with the calculations based on the finite element modelling, which show a significant increase in average shear stress at higher rotational speeds. Overall, the work has demonstrated the possible effects of hydrodynamic cavitation on the quorum-sensing molecules of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the first time.

Polycaprolactone nanocapsules (PCL) containing pretilachlor were prepared, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used for their structural and morphological investigations. The results revealed that the nanocapsules had irregular shape and their particles size was in the range of 70–200 nm. The encapsulation efficiency of pretilachlor was measured as 99.5 ± 1.3% using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The physicochemical stability studies over 60 days showed that the nanocapsules were stable in the suspension without any aggregation. The herbicide activity was examined in a pre-emergence manner using barnyard grass as a target plant and rice as a non-target plant. The nanoformulation had no negative effect on rice plant. However, its effect on barnyard grass was significant. The cytotoxicity analysis indicated that the nanocapsulated herbicide is less toxic rather than the commercial formulation. Therefore, encapsulation of pretilachlor in PCL nanocapsules can be used effectively to construct environmentally friendly PCL-herbicide systems in agriculture.

The biochars were prepared from straws of canola, corn, soybean, and peanut at different temperatures of 300, 500, and 700 °C by means of oxygen-limited pyrolysis. Amelioration effects of these biochars on an acidic Ultisol were investigated with incubation experiments, and application rate of biochars was 10 g/kg. The incorporation of these biochars induced the increase in soil pH, soil exchangeable base cations, base saturation, and cation exchange capacity and the decrease in soil exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al. The ameliorating effects of biochars on acidic soil increased with increase in their pyrolysis temperature. The contribution of oxygen-containing functional groups on the biochars to their ameliorating effects on the acidic soil decreased with the rise in pyrolysis temperature, while the contribution from carbonates in the biochars changed oppositely. The incorporation of the biochars led to the decrease in soil reactive Al extracted by 0.5 mol/L CuCl₂, and the content of reactive Al was decreased with the increase in pyrolysis temperature of incorporated biochars. The biochars generated at 300 °C increased soil organically complexed Al due to ample quantity of oxygen-containing functional groups such as carboxylic and phenolic groups on the biochars, while the biochars generated at 500 and 700 °C accelerated the transformation of soil exchangeable Al to hydroxyl-Al polymers due to hydrolysis of Al at higher pH. Therefore, the crop straw-derived biochars can be used as amendments for acidic soils and the biochars generated at relatively high temperature have great ameliorating effects on the soils.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the enhancement of polycaprolactone (PCL) on total nitrogen (TN) removal of coal pyrolysis wastewater (CPW) with low COD to nitrogen ratio by partial nitrification-denitrification bioprocess (PNDB) in one single reactor. With the innovative combination of PCL and PNDB, the TN removal efficiency in the experimental reactor (signed as R1) was 10.21% higher than control reactor (R2). Nitrite accumulation percentage (NAP) in R1 was 82.02%, which was 17.49% higher than R2 at the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of 0.9–1.5 mg/L, for the reason that the extra DO was consumed by PCL biodegradation at the aerobic period. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) results demonstrated that organics with the molecular weight of 185 Da, which could serve as additional carbon sources for denitrifiers, were generated during the PCL hydrolysis process at the anoxic period. PCL was hydrolyzed by extracellular enzymes with the break of the ester bond which was confirmed by FT-IR spectrometer. Microbial community analysis revealed that Ferruginibacter was the dominant hydrolysis bacteria in R1. Nitrosomonas were the main ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and Hyphomicrobium were the denitrifiers in this study.

The introduction of a gene, strain, or microbial consortium into an indigenous bacterial population is known as bioaugmentation. This technique has been proposed as an effective strategy for accelerating and enhancing the removal of recalcitrant and toxic compounds during wastewater treatment. In this study, three types of reactors were used to test whether quorum sensing plays an important role in bioaugmented systems. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction showed that the inoculated strain, HF-1, successfully colonized in the bioaugmented reactor. Meanwhile, no HF-1 colonization was observed in the quorum-quenching and non-bioaugmented reactors. Removal of nicotine in the bioaugmented reactor was almost 100 %, and removal of total organic carbon (TOC) was higher than 50 %. However, less than 20 % of nicotine and 30 % of TOC was removed in quorum-quenching and non-bioaugmented reactors. Moreover, the release of acylated homoserine lactones reached the threshold for HF-1 biofilm formation in bioaugmented reactors but not in quorum-quenching or non-bioaugmented reactors. The addition of porcine kidney acylase I, a quenching reagent, to the quorum-quenching reactor hampered the colonization of HF-1. Together, these results demonstrate that quorum sensing plays an important role in HF-1 colonization of bioaugmented systems.