Response of microbes to biochar strengthen nitrogen removal in subsurface flow constructed wetlands: Microbial community structure and metabolite characteristics

Abstract Four subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs) were constructed on the basis of the volume ratio of biochar in common gravel (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) for the evaluation of microbe and metabolite characteristics response to biochar addition. The results showed that the biochar added SFCWs provided higher removal efficiencies for ammonium (49.69%–63.51%) and total nitrogen (81.83%–86.36%), compared with pure gravel packed SFCWs for ammonium (47.40%) and total nitrogen (80.75%), respectively. Illumina MiSeq sequencing results revealed that the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. Biochar addition can improve the removal of nitrogen by altering microbial community and increasing the relative abundance of Thauera, Candidatus Competibacter, Dechloromonas, Desulfobulbus, Chlorobium, and Thiobacillus. Protein and humic substances were the primary components of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) in SFCWs. The amount of total EPS considerably decreased with biochar addition, which caused a shift in the EPS functional groups including carbonyl of protein, amide, and hydroxyl groups. Moreover, biochar could enhance the high molecular weight compounds metabolized into low molecular compounds. The results can provide new insights into the use of biochar in the enhancement of nitrogen removal by microbial community and metabolic product characteristics.