ReArrhenius · Re-evaluation of temperature correction in microbial biodegradation kinetics
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-04-01 → 2019-03-31
- EU contribution
- €267,147
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-GF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Re-evaluation of temperature correction in microbial biodegradation kinetics
Recent years have seen a marked increase in micropollutants concentrations in water bodies, emphasizing limitations of wastewater treatment plants (mostly biological systems) in providing steady and effective pollutants removal. A better understanding of what causes such performance variability is one important contribution to preventing long-term adverse ecological effects and human exposure. Environmental parameters, such as temperature, likely have a direct impact on chemical exposure from wastewater treatment plants, as they directly influence pollutants biodegradation rates. As such, temperature is also explicitly used as predictor variable when modelling pollutant degradation half-lives in chemical fate and exposure models used for risk assessment purposes. The ReArrhenius project aims at investigating the temperature dependence of micropollutants biotransformation kinetics in aerobic biological systems, taking into account both physico-chemical and taxon trait changes. Experimental data, for both biotransformation rate constants and community composition and activity from high-throughput sequencing, were used to test the validity of currently used temperature-correction models for the prediction of biotransformation rates of micropollutants in biological systems.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The main objective of this project is to evaluate the validity of using temperature correction factors (e.g. Q10) to predict the rates of micropollutant biodegradation in natural communities. The Q10 correction factor is based on the Arrhenius equation, which gives degradation kinetic rate constants as a function of temperature, and it is widely adopted in modelling (such as numerical fate models) in environmental exposure assessments. Despite its popularity, the Q10 approach is still the object of great debate among scientists, as the Arrhenius relationship holds over a very small temperature range for biological systems, in which microorganisms can function, and it is based on the assumption of compositional and functional ubiquity of the microbial communities. However, a change in temperature does not only impact chemical kinetic rates, but also determines shift and adaptation of the microbial population towards degraders that survive and perform better at the altered temperature. This project will adopt a multidisciplinary approach where biotransformation assays, kinetic modelling and high-throughput microbiological assays will be integrated to provide a thorough understanding of temperature dependence of micropollutant biotransformation kinetics in aerobic biological systems, taking into account the strong relationship between taxon traits and the environment.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE · Newcastle Upon TyneCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
- EIDGENOESSISCHE ANSTALT FUER WASSERVERSORGUNG ABWASSERREINIGUNG UND GEWAESSERSCHUTZ · DubendorfSwitzerland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union