The interactions between microalgae and wastewater indigenous bacteria for treatment and valorization of brewery wastewater

This study aims to elucidate the changes in indigenous bacterial composition in four different microalgal cultures and compare brewery wastewater treatment efficiency, amino and fatty acids content of the four microalgal systems with and without indigenous bacteria. 16S rRNA gene sequences indicate that microalgae affect the bacterial community composition. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was significantly higher in algal-bacterial culture (>80%) compared with algal culture (40%), and different bacterial compositions did not change COD removal for four algal species. C. vulgaris showed the highest TN (>94%) and TP removal capability among the four species. No significant differences in TN removal were found between mixed and algal cultures. Again, indigenous bacteria did not cause significant differences in TP removal except for C. vulgaris. Besides, the influence of indigenous brewery bacteria on the concentration of different amino and fatty acids in algal biomass was algal species-dependent.