Abstract
Waste stabilization ponds are a simple, low-cost extensive process for treating wastewater, and well adapted to low socio-economic conditions in developing countries where the microbial populations in these systems are not well characterized. The phylogenetic bacterial community structure within a Tunisian wastewater stabilization plant treating domestic wastewater was assessed by Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method targeting 16S rRNA genes and by the APLAUS+ software of the Microbial Community Analysis (MiCA) web based tool. The dimeric enzymatic digestion with HaeIII and HinfI restriction enzymes revealed high bacterial diversity within the plant where 11 bacterial phyla were identified. The total bacterial community structure includes bacteria catalysing nitrogen and phosphorus removal and bacteria involved in the sulfur cycle. The bacterial community was characterized by the dominance of Proteobacteria which was the most populous phylum (60%) followed by the Actinobacteria (20%), the Firmicutes (10.3%), the Bacteroidetes (2.3%), the Nitrospira (2.2%). Minor bacterial phyla groups occupied smaller fractions such as Chloroflexi, Deferribacteres and Verrumicrobia. T-RFLP analysis revealed also that The Proteobacteria phylum was characterized by the dominance of bacteria of The Gammaproteobacteria class.