This chapter focuses on culture-independent characterization and monitoring of microbial communities in tannery wastewater treatment system, with special reference to the degradation of two xenobiotic chemicals used in retanning processes. Molecular survey of a tannery wastewater treatment system through metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches revealed a diverse microbial community in each component of the treatment system with high gene copies for enzymes involved in the degradation of cyclic aromatic compounds such as nitrotoluene. A combination of flow cytometry and molecular fingerprinting methods was used in a lab-scale reactor to monitor the dynamics of the microbes in the sludge and the fate of two retanning chemicals. The identified key microbial communities for the removal of the two xenobiotic chemicals belong to members of the group Proteobacteria and the phylum Bacteroidetes.
Part of the book: Biological Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery