An ecological explanation for carbon source-associated denitrification performance in wastewater treatment plants

•Denitrifying consortia (DNC) was enriched with well-defined conditions•The dentrifiers in acetate-fed DNC were dominated by Propionivibrio and Thauera•The presence of glucose enriched denitrifiers of Pleomorphomonas•The acetate-fed DNC contained higher abundances of denitrifying genes•The acetate-fed DNC had stable community network and better aggregation ability