Microbial ecology in anaerobic digestion at agitated and non-agitated conditions

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 14;9(10):e109769. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109769. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

To investigate the distribution and dynamics of microbial community in anaerobic digestion at agitated and non-agitated condition, 454 pyrosequencing of 16s rRNA was conducted. It revealed the distinct community compositions between the two digesters and their progressive shifting over time. Methanogens and syntrophic bacteria were found much less abundant in the agitated digester, which was mainly attributed to the presence of bacterial genera Acetanaerobacterium and Ruminococcus with relatively high abundance. The characterization of the microbial community corroborated the digestion performance affected at the agitated condition, where lower methane yield and delayed methane production rate were observed. This was further verified by the accumulation of propionic acid in the agitated digester.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anaerobiosis
  • Archaea / genetics
  • Archaea / metabolism
  • Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
  • Methane / biosynthesis
  • Microbiota
  • Molecular Typing
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Ruminococcus / genetics
  • Ruminococcus / metabolism*
  • Volatile Organic Compounds / metabolism

Substances

  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Methane

Grants and funding

The study was funded by the Florida Energy System Consortium (FESC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.