High variations of methanogenic microorganisms drive full-scale anaerobic digestion process

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Environment International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.03.005· OSTI ID:1646841

Zhang, Qiuting ^[1]; Wang, Mengmeng ^[2]; Ma, Xingyu ^[1]; Gao, Qun ^[1]; Wang, Tengxu ^[1]; Shi, Xuchuan ^[1]; Zhou, Jizhong ^[3]; Zuo, Jiane ^[1]; Yang, Yunfeng ^[1]

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1. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
2. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); South China Normal Univ., Guangzhou (China)
3. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most successful waste management strategies worldwide, wherein microorganisms play an essential role in reducing organic pollutants and producing renewable energy. However, variations of microbial community in full-scale anaerobic digesters, particularly functional groups relevant to biogas production, remain elusive. Here, we examined microbial community in a year-long monthly time series of 3 full-scale anaerobic digesters. We observed substantial diversification in community composition, with only a few abundant OTUs (e.g. Clostridiales, Anaerolineaceae and Methanosaeta) persistently present across different samples. Similarly, there were high variations in relative abundance of methanogenic archaea and methanogenic genes, which were positively correlated (r₂ = 0.530, P < 0.00 1). Variations of methanogens explained 55.7% of biogas producing rates, much higher than the explanatory percentage of environmental parameters (16.4%). Hydrogenotrophic methanogens, especially abundant Methanomicrobiales taxa, were correlated with biogas production performance (r = 0.665, P < 0.001) and nearly all methanogenic genes (0.430 < r < 0.735, P < 0.012). Given that methanogenic archaea or genes are well established for methanogenesis, we conclude that high variations in methanogenic traits (e.g. taxa or genes) are responsible for biogas production variations in full-scale anaerobic digesters.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USEPA; USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1646841
• Journal Information: Environment International, Vol. 126; ISSN 0160-4120
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Anaerobic digestion
Methane production
Succession
Temporal stability