Nitrospira community composition in nitrifying reactors operated with two different dissolved oxygen levels

Nitrospira is a dominant member of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in nitrifying bioreactors as well as in natural habitats. In this study, Nitrospira NOB were investigated in the two nitrifying reactors operated with high and low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations for a period of 300 days. Phylogenetic and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the Nitrospira community compositions of the two reactors during the early period related to group 1 and half of the Nitrospira community composition shifted to group 2 in the high-DO reactor after day 179, although there was no significant change in the low-DO reactor. These results suggested that DO was an important factor affecting Nitrospira community compositions in the nitrifying reactors.