Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
AI Summary:
The study conducted a meta-analysis of 15 biofilter microbiomes using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing HTS data. The results highlighted geographical location as the major contributor to microbiome dissimilarity in biofilter samples.AI Topics:
Biofiltration, a sustainable water treatment technology relying on microbial processes to remove contaminants, offers a promising approach to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Goal 6 of universal access to clean water and sanitation by 2030. However, a key barrier to optimising biofiltration is the incomplete understanding of the biological mechanisms governing its performance. Despite numerous studies examining how engineering decisions impact biofilter performance and the associated microbiome, the significant influence of geographical location on microbial communities raises the question of whether these findings are universally applicable or location-specific. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis of 15 biofilter microbiomes using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data, mainly originating from rapid gravity and/or granular activated carbon (GAC) filters. Despite different types and scales, results highlight geographical location as the major contributor to microbiome dissimilarity in biofilter samples (Top and Bottom) (R2∼ 0.5; p-value<0.001). The same was observed for influent waters (PERMANOVA R2= 0.76; p-value<0.001), indicating location-specific microbiomes as opposed to differences driven by different biofilter operating parameters. Irrespective of location, the higher percentage of the microbiome was assembled through deterministic processes (∼55 %) compared to stochastic processes (∼45 %). Finally, our findings suggest that the depth stratification of biofilter microbiomes may be associated with the enrichment of taxa capable of metabolising more complex organic carbon in deeper filter layers (10 enriched pathways in biofilter Bottom layers compared to 3 at the Top). These insights provide a broader understanding of biofiltration microbiomes and offer possible research avenues for targeted and effective biofilter design strategies.
Cholet, Fabien
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Cholet, Fabien and Agogué, Hélène and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Lachaussée, Nicolas and Pineau, Philippe and Smith, Cindy J. (2024) Low-abundant but highly transcriptionally active uncharacterised Nitrosomonas drive ammonia-oxidation in the Brouage mudflat, France. Science of the Total Environment, 946: 174312. ISSN 0048-9697
Shi, Xiang and Pereira, Ryan and Uzma and Savage, Laurie and Poursat, Baptiste and Quinn, Dominic and Kostrytsia, Anastasiia and Cholet, Fabien and Smith, Cindy J. and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline and Sloan, William T. and Ijaz, Umer and Vignola, Marta (2024) Microbial stratification and DOM removal in drinking water biofilters: implications for enhanced performance. Water Research, 262: 122053. ISSN 0043-1354
See full publications listVignola, Marta
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Shi, Xiang and Pereira, Ryan and Uzma and Savage, Laurie and Poursat, Baptiste and Quinn, Dominic and Kostrytsia, Anastasiia and Cholet, Fabien and Smith, Cindy J. and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline and Sloan, William T. and Ijaz, Umer and Vignola, Marta (2024) Microbial stratification and DOM removal in drinking water biofilters: implications for enhanced performance. Water Research, 262: 122053. ISSN 0043-1354
Vignola, Marta and Lenselink, Jeanine and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Zeeshan and Pereira, Ryan and Sloan, William T. and Connelly, Stephanie and Moore, Graeme and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline and Smith, Cindy J. (2023) Differential utilisation of dissolved organic matter compound fractions by different biofilter microbial communities. AQUA: Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, 72 (10). pp. 1837-1851. ISSN 2709-8028
See full publications listQuinn, Dominic
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Vignola, Marta and Lenselink, Jeanine and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Zeeshan and Pereira, Ryan and Sloan, William T. and Connelly, Stephanie and Moore, Graeme and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline and Smith, Cindy J. (2023) Differential utilisation of dissolved organic matter compound fractions by different biofilter microbial communities. AQUA: Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society, 72 (10). pp. 1837-1851. ISSN 2709-8028
See full publications listIjaz, Umer
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Saleem, Farrukh and Ameer, Aqsa and Afzal, Farhan and Usman, Muhammad and Irshad, Hamid and Sattar, Sadia and Ijaz, Umer Zeeshan and Javed, Sundus (2025) A cross-sectional survey of poultry management systems, practices and antimicrobial use in relation to disease outbreak in Pakistan. BMC Research Notes, 18: 144. ISSN 1756-0500
Badar, Ayesha and Aqueel, Rhea and Nawaz, Ali and Ijaz, Umer Zeeshan and Malik, Kauser Abdulla (2025) Microbiota transplantation for Cotton Leaf Curl Disease suppression - core microbiome and transcriptome dynamics. Communications Biology, 8 (1): 380. ISSN 2399-3642
See full publications listSloan, William
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Gupta, Rohit and Murray, Cameron and Sloan, William T. and You, Siming (2025) Predicting the methane production of microwave-pretreated anaerobic digestion of food waste: a machine learning approach. Energy. ISSN 0360-5442 (In Press)
Alghafli, Khaled and Shi, Xiaogang and Sloan, William and Ali, Awad M. (2025) Investigating the role of ENSO in groundwater temporal variability across Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates using machine learning algorithms. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 28: 101389. ISSN 2352-801X
See full publications listSmith, Cindy
Author
Cholet, Fabien and Vignola, Marta and Quinn, Dominic and Ijaz, Umer Z. and Sloan, William T. and Smith, Cindy J. (2025) Microbial ecology of drinking water biofiltration based on 16S rRNA sequencing: a meta-analysis. Water Research, 281: 123684. ISSN 0043-1354
Fantinelli Franco, Fabiane and Malik, Muhammad and Manjakkal, Libu and Roshanghias, Ali and Smith, Cindy and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline (2024) Optimising carbon structures in laser-induced graphene electrodes using design of experiments for enhanced electrochemical sensing characteristics. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 16 (47). pp. 65489-65502. ISSN 1944-8244
Fantinelli Franco, Fabiane and Malik, Muhammad Hassan and Manjakkal, Libu and Roshanghias, Ali and Smith, Cindy J. and Gauchotte-Lindsay, Caroline (2024) Optimizing carbon structures in laser-induced graphene electrodes using design of experiments for enhanced electrochemical sensing characteristics. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 16 (47). pp. 65489-65502. ISSN 1944-8244
See full publications listAvailable under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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