Ecological insights into the underlying evolutionary patterns of biofilm formation from biological wastewater treatment systems: Red or Black Queen Hypothesis?

Abstract Interspecies interactions and phylogenetic distances were studied to reveal the underlying evolutionary adaptations of biofilms sourced from wastewater treatment processes. Based on 380 pairwise cocultures of 40 strains from two microbial aggregates (surface‐attached and mobile aggregates [flocs]) at two substrate concentrations (LB broth and 0.1× LB broth), interspecies interactions were explored using biofilm classification schemes. There was a strong source‐dependence of biofilm development formed by the monocultures, that is, a higher biofilm formation potential for strains from attached aggregates than for those from sludge flocs at both substrate concentrations. Interestingly, the results showed that total biofilm reduction was dominant in the dual‐species biofilm sourced from flocs in both LB broth (67.37%) and 0.1× LB broth (64.21%), indicating high interspecific competition in mobile aggregates and the independence of substrate concentrations. However, biofilm reduction was higher (33.68%) than induction (19.37%) for the biofilms formed by surface‐attached aggregates in LB broth, while the opposite trend was apparent in 0.1× LB broth, suggesting the occurrence of indeterministic processes for biofilm formation and important roles of substrate concentrations. In addition, the more closely related phylogenetic relationships of cocultures from mobile aggregates were consistent with higher competition compared with those from surface‐attached aggregates. Overall, the underlying evolutionary patterns of biofilms formed from mobile aggregates consistently followed the essence of the “Red Queen Hypothesis,” while biofilms developed from surface‐attached aggregates were not deterministic. This study advanced our understanding of biofilm‐related treatment processes using the principles of microbial ecology.