Microbial community dynamics in replicate anaerobic digesters exposed sequentially to increasing organic loading rate, acidosis, and process recovery.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Volatile fatty acid intoxication (acidosis), a common process failure recorded in anaerobic reactors, leads to drastic losses in methane production. Unfortunately, little is known about the microbial mechanisms underlining acidosis and the potential to recover the process. In this study, triplicate mesophilic anaerobic reactors of 100 L were exposed to acidosis resulting from an excessive feeding with sugar beet pulp and were compared to a steady-state reactor.

Results

Stable operational conditions at the beginning of the experiment initially led to similar microbial populations in the four reactors, as revealed by 16S rRNA gene T-RFLP and high-throughput amplicon sequencing. Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the two dominant phyla, and although they were represen

SUBMITTER: Goux X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4539856 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature