Interactions between river bed morphology, water chemistry and microbial diversity and its impact on pollutant biodegradation

河床形态、水化学和微生物多样性之间的相互作用及其对污染物生物降解的影响

• 批准号: NE/H018980/1
• 负责人: Gary Bending
• 金额: $ 8.53万
• 依托单位: University of Warwick
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Training Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FH018980%2F1
• 关键词: Interactions; between; river; bed; morphology

Work at Warwick has demonstrated that river sediment bed-form, such as particle courseness and ripple height, has a major influence on the behaviour of tracers, but the implications for the fate of chemical pollutants remain to be elucidated. Furthermore, in many developing countries, untreated waste water is routinely discharged directly into surface water, and is associated with high levels of suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand. However the implications of direct discharge conditions for the biodegradation of chemical pollutants is not known. The student will work with microbiologists, civil engineers and environmental modellers to elucidate the effect of bed-form characteristics on the diversity and pollutant degrading potential of microbial communities inhabiting biofilms at the sediment surface, and the way in which direct discharge scenarios affect interactions between bed-form, microbial community composition and pollutant biodegradation rates. The following hypotheses will be tested: 1. Chemical pollutant distribution patterns within river sediment are determined by bed-form 2. Bed-form controls microbial community structure and diversity 3. Bed-form affects the development of catabolic communities and biodegradation rates 4. Direct discharge conditions affect establishment of river-bed microbial communities and biodegradation processes Following the experimental phase of the work the student will spend six months at Unilever to develop approaches to incorporate the results into general exposure modelling frameworks for developed and developing countries. The studentship provides inter-disciplinary training in microbiology, molecular biology, environmental hydraulics and modelling. The industrial partner will provide funding to enable establishment of micro-flume experimental systems and the use of cutting edge techniques, including high throughput sequencing to assess microbial diversity. Furthermore funds will be made available for the student to attend regular national and international conferences and to spend 6 months at Unilever for training in exposure modelling and environmental risk assessment.

沃里克的研究表明，河流沉积物的河床形态，如颗粒径向和波纹高度，对示踪剂的行为有重大影响，但对化学污染物命运的影响仍有待阐明。此外，在许多发展中国家，未经处理的废水通常直接排入地表水，并与高水平的悬浮固体和生化需氧量有关。然而，直接排放条件对化学污染物生物降解的影响尚不清楚。学生将与微生物学家、土木工程师和环境模型师合作，阐明床型特征对栖息在沉积物表面生物膜中的微生物群落的多样性和污染物降解潜力的影响，以及直接排放情景如何影响床型、微生物群落组成和污染物生物降解率之间的相互作用。将检验以下假设：1.河流沉积物中化学污染物的分布模式由床型决定2.床型控制微生物群落的结构和多样性3.床型影响分解群落的发展和生物降解率4.直接排放条件影响河床微生物群落的建立和生物降解过程在工作的实验阶段之后，学生将在联合利华花六个月的时间开发将结果纳入发达国家和发展中国家的一般暴露模型框架的方法。该项目提供微生物学、分子生物学、环境水力学和建模方面的跨学科培训。该工业伙伴将提供资金，以建立微型水槽实验系统和使用尖端技术，包括高通量测序，以评估微生物多样性。此外，还将为学生提供资金，让他们参加定期的国家和国际会议，并在联合利华工作6个月，接受暴露模型和环境风险评估方面的培训。