Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments

Schmautz, Zala; Espinal, Carlos A.; Bohny, Andrea M.; Rezzonico, Fabio; Junge, Ranka; Frossard, Emmanuel; Smits, Theo H. M.

doi:10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-21228

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments
Authors:	Schmautz, Zala Espinal, Carlos A. Bohny, Andrea M. Rezzonico, Fabio Junge, Ranka Frossard, Emmanuel Smits, Theo H. M.
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0 10.21256/zhaw-21228
Published in:	BMC Microbiology
Volume(Issue):	21
Issue:	12
Issue Date:	6-Jan-2021
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	BioMed Central
ISSN:	1471-2180
Language:	English
Subjects:	Aquaponics; Chemical analysis; Community analysis; Archaea; Bacteria; T-RFLP
Subject (DDC):	639.8: Aquaculture
Abstract:	Background: An aquaponic system couples cultivation of plants and fish in the same aqueous medium. The system consists of interconnected compartments for fish rearing and plant production, as well as for water filtration, with all compartments hosting diverse microbial communities, which interact within the system. Due to the design, function and operation mode of the individual compartments, each of them exhibits unique biotic and abiotic conditions. Elucidating how these conditions shape microbial communities is useful in understanding how these compartments may affect the quality of the water, in which plants and fish are cultured. Results: We investigated the possible relationships between microbial communities from biofilms and water quality parameters in different compartments of the aquaponic system. Biofilm samples were analyzed by total community profiling for bacterial and archaeal communities. The results implied that the oxygen levels could largely explain the main differences in abiotic parameters and microbial communities in each compartment of the system. Aerobic system compartments are highly biodiverse and work mostly as a nitrifying biofilter, whereas biofilms in the anaerobic compartments contain a less diverse community. Finally, the part of the system connecting the aerobic and anaerobic processes showed common conditions where both aerobic and anaerobic processes were observed. Conclusion: Different predicted microbial activities for each compartment were found to be supported by the abiotic parameters, of which the oxygen saturation, total organic carbon and total nitrogen differentiated clearly between samples from the main aerobic loop and the anaerobic compartments. The latter was also confirmed using microbial community profile analysis.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/21228
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	Life Sciences and Facility Management
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Characterization of nitrogen dynamics in an aquaponic system
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Life Sciences und Facility Management

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Schmautz, Z., Espinal, C. A., Bohny, A. M., Rezzonico, F., Junge, R., Frossard, E., & Smits, T. H. M. (2021). Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments. BMC Microbiology, 21(12). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0

Schmautz, Z. et al. (2021) ‘Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments’, BMC Microbiology, 21(12). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0.

Z. Schmautz et al., “Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments,” BMC Microbiology, vol. 21, no. 12, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0.

SCHMAUTZ, Zala, Carlos A. ESPINAL, Andrea M. BOHNY, Fabio REZZONICO, Ranka JUNGE, Emmanuel FROSSARD und Theo H. M. SMITS, 2021. Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments. BMC Microbiology. 6 Januar 2021. Bd. 21, Nr. 12. DOI 10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0

Schmautz, Zala, Carlos A. Espinal, Andrea M. Bohny, Fabio Rezzonico, Ranka Junge, Emmanuel Frossard, and Theo H. M. Smits. 2021. “Environmental Parameters and Microbial Community Profiles as Indication towards Microbial Activities and Diversity in Aquaponic System Compartments.” BMC Microbiology 21 (12). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0.

Schmautz, Zala, et al. “Environmental Parameters and Microbial Community Profiles as Indication towards Microbial Activities and Diversity in Aquaponic System Compartments.” BMC Microbiology, vol. 21, no. 12, Jan. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-02075-0.