Microbial Analysis of Sewage Sludges

The Importance of Microbial Analysis of Sewage Sludges

Sewage sludges are the product of the biological wastewater treatment and their chemical and biological composition varies depending on the type of wastewater and pre-treatment methods. Sewage sludge may be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms and spores, such as the potentially pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella genus), eggs of intestinal parasites (Ascarislumbricoides, richuris sp., Toxocara sp., etc.) and coliform bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium perfringens), so understanding their ways of development can be difficult, but achievable. To do so, knowledge such as the physico-chemical parameters and microbiological composition of the sewage sludge is needed. Analyzing microbes in sewage sludges is important, as the chemical and microbiological contents of the sludges can potentially be improved, in this case, eliminating the heavy metal contents and pathogens.

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Accelerate Research and Practice in the Microbial Analysis of Sewage Sludges

We can provide comprehensive microbiological testing of the sewage sludges using techniques including high-throughput sequencing, PCR denaturing gradient gel analysis (PCR-DGGE) and real-time qPCR. According to your specific needs, we employ various sequencing platforms, including Illumina Miseq/Hiseq and PacBio Sequel instruments to obtain accurate and significant amount of sequence data. Comprehensive bioinformatics approaches are used to investigate microbiological composition of the sewage sludge. We can evaluate the relationship between the physico-chemical parameters (pH, sedimentation properties, temperature, mineral substances, the dry weight, biogenic elements and heavy metals, etc.) and sewage/sludge microbiome, and the relationship between microbial populations and enzyme activities in a soil amended with sewage sludge.

Main Research Directions

Understanding the chemical and microbial composition of sewage sludges that determines the method of disposal.
The sewage sludges microbiome and sustainable agricultural development.

What Can We Do?

1. Diversity analysis of the sewage/sludge microbiome using 16S/18S/ITS sequencing or metagenomic sequencing.
2. Microbial abundance analysis using quantitative 16S/18S/ITS sequencing or real-time qPCR.
3. Compare the differences in sludge microbial communities of different wastewater treatment plants.
4. Understand the metabolic potentials of sludge microbial communities.

Note: Our service is for research use only, and not for therapeutic or diagnostic use.

Detectable Objects

Bacteria, fungi, archaebacteria, viruses.

Detection Methods

Next-generation sequencing (NGS), PCR denaturing gradient gel analysis (PCR-DGGE), real-time qPCR

Technical Platforms

Illumina HiSeq/MiSeq, PacBio SMRT systems, Nanopore MinION systems, PCR-DGGE, Real-time qPCR, clone library, etc.

Sample Requirements

1. DNA sample: ≥ 300 ng, OD_260/280 = 1.8 - 2.0, concentration ≥ 10 ng/μl.
2. Ensure that the DNA is not degraded. Avoid repeated freezing and thawing cycles during sample storage and shipment.
3. Please use enough dry ice or ice packs during shipment.
4. Nucleic acid samples should be stored at -20/-80 °C.

Bioinformatics Analysis

Fundamental Analysis	Distribution-based OTU-calling
	Effective sequences generation
	Rarefaction curve
	Shannon-Wiener curve
	Rank abundance curve
	Diversity index
Conventional Analysis	Heatmap
	VENN
	Principal components analysis (PCA)
	(Un)Weighted Unifrac
	NMDS
	Hierarchical clustering
Advanced Data Analysis	LDA effectsize
	Intermicrobial correlation analysis
	Phylogenetic trees
	Network analysis

References

Błaszczyk K., Krzyśko-Łupicka T. Microbiological and physico-chemical composition of sewage derived from the food industry. Chemistry Didactics Ecology Metrology. 2013, 89-95.
Leite Moretti SM, etc. Composting sewage sludge with green waste from tree pruning. Scientia Agricola. 2015, 72(5): 432-439.