Free Ammonia Stress Rewires Microbial Signaling Networks and Constrains Metabolic Cooperation in Oxygenic Photogranules.
Free ammonia at 25 mg/L disrupts microbial signaling, reduces cooperation, and shifts energy use in oxygenic photogranules, impairing wastewater treatment functions.
- Why it matters: Understanding how ammonia inhibits microbial communication is crucial for improving wastewater ecosystem stability and treatment efficiency, especially under ammonia stress.
- What they did: The study used temporal profiling, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics to analyze microbial signaling and energy pathways across varying free ammonia concentrations in oxygenic photogranules.
- The result: High ammonia levels weaken signaling networks and metabolite exchange, forcing microbes to prioritize self-maintenance metabolism like the glyoxylate shunt, which constrains cooperative functions.