Microbial community dynamics and stability during an ammonia-induced shift to syntrophic acetate oxidation.

ABSTRACT: Anaerobic digesters rely on the diversity and distribution of parallel metabolic pathways mediated by complex syntrophic microbial communities to maintain robust and optimal performance. Using mesophilic swine waste digesters, we experimented with increased ammonia loading to induce a shift from aceticlastic methanogenesis to an alternative acetate-consuming pathway of syntrophic acetate oxidation. In comparison with control digesters, we observed shifts in bacterial 16S rRNA gene content and in functional gene repertoires over the course of the digesters' 3-year operating period. During the first year, under identical startup conditions, all bioreactors mirrored each other closely in terms of bacterial phylotype content, phylogenetic structure, and evenness. When we perturbed the digester

SUBMITTER: Werner JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4018841 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature