Performance, mechanism regulation and resource recycling of bacteria-algae symbiosis system for wastewater treatment: A review

Environ Pollut. 2024 Sep 25:362:125019. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125019. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

The bacteria-algae synergistic wastewater treatment process not only efficiently eliminates nutrients and absorbs heavy metals, but also utilizes photosynthesis to convert light energy into chemical energy, generating valuable bioresource. The study systematically explores the formation, algal species, and regulatory strategies of the bacterial-algal symbiosis system. It provides a detailed analysis of various interaction mechanisms, with a particular focus on nutrient exchange, signal transduction, and gene transfer. Additionally, the efficacy of the system in removing nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals, as well as its role in CO2 reduction and bioresource recycling, is thoroughly elaborated. Potential future research of bacteria-algae cell factory producing bioenergy production, feed or fertilizers are summarized. This paper clearly presents effective strategies for efficiently removing pollutants, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting resource recycling in the field of wastewater treatment. It also provides recommendations for further research on utilizing microbial-algal symbiotic systems to remove novel pollutants from wastewater and extract value-added products from the resulting biomass.

Keywords: Bioresource recycling; CO(2) reduction; Interaction mechanism; Nutrients removal; Symbiotic system of bacteria-algae.

Publication types

  • Review