ARS | Publication request: Analysis of denitrification in swine anaerobic lagoons

Submitted to: American Society for Microbiology General Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 25, 2010
Publication Date: May 23, 2010
Citation: Ducey, T.F., Ro, K.S., Szogi, A.A., Vanotti, M.B., Hunt, P.G. 2010. Analysis of denitrification in swine anaerobic lagoons [abstract]. American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, May 23-27, 2010, San Diego, California. 2010 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: Anaerobic lagoons are a common management practice for the treatment of swine wastewater. Although these lagoons were once thought to be relatively simple; their physical, chemical, and biological processes are actually very sophisticated. To get a better understanding of the processes which occur in these lagoons, we undertook a study of eight commercial lagoons in North Carolina. The objectives of this study were as follows: 1) measure denitrification enzyme activity; 2) quantify the abundance of the genes amoA, nirS, nirK, and nosZ; and 3) correlate enzyme activity and gene abundance with physical and chemical factors of these lagoons. The findings of this study demonstrated that denitrification enzyme activity was low throughout the water column of the lagoons, but that the genes which encode enzymes for nitrification and denitrification were found to be of high abundance. These findings seem to indicate that the potential for nitrification and denitrification in these anaerobic lagoons is high, but that current environmental conditions inhibit this activity.