Project description:The anaerobic digestion microbiomes has been puzzling us since the dawn of molecular methods for mixed microbial community analysis. Monitoring of the anaerobic digestion microbiome can either take place via a holistic evaluation of the microbial community through fingerprinting or by targeted monitoring of selected taxa. Here, we compared four different microbial community fingerprinting methods, i.e., amplicon sequencing, metaproteomics, metabolomics and phenotypics, in their ability to reflect the full-scale anaerobic digestion microbiome. The phenotypic fingerprinting reflects a, for anaerobic digestion, novel, single cell-based approach of direct microbial community fingerprinting. Three different digester types, i.e., sludge digesters, digesters treating agro-industrial waste and dry anaerobic digesters reflected different operational parameters. The α-diversity analysis yielded inconsistent results, especially for richness, across the different methods. In contrast, β-diversity analysis resulted in comparable profiles, even when translated into phyla or functions, with clear separation of the three digester types. In-depth analysis of each method's features i.e., operational taxonomic units, metaproteins, metabolites, and phenotypic traits, yielded certain similar features yet, also some clear differences between the different methods, which was related to the complexity of the anaerobic digestion process. In conclusion, phenotypic fingerprinting is a reliable, fast method for holistic monitoring of the anaerobic digestion microbiome, and the complementary identification of key features through other methods could give rise to a direct interpretation of anaerobic digestion process performance.
Project description:Anaerobic digestion is a popular and effective microbial process for waste treatment. The performance of anaerobic digestion processes is contingent on the balance of the microbial food web in utilizing various substrates. Recently, co-digestion, i.e., supplementing the primary substrate with an organic-rich co-substrate has been exploited to improve waste treatment efficiency. Yet the potential effects of elevated organic loading on microbial functional gene community remains elusive. In this study, functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) was used to assess the response of microbial community to the addition of poultry waste in anaerobic digesters treating dairy manure. Consistent with 16S rRNA gene sequences data, GeoChip data showed that microbial community compositions were significantly shifted in favor of copiotrophic populations by co-digestion, as taxa with higher rRNA gene copy number such as Bacilli were enriched. The acetoclastic methanogen Methanosarcina was also enriched, while Methanosaeta was unaltered but more abundant than Methanosarcina throughout the study period. The microbial functional diversity involved in anaerobic digestion were also increased under co-digestion.
Project description:Current developments have led to a reconsidering of energy policy in many countries with the aim of increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy supply, where the anaerobic digestion (AD) of biomass to produce methane also plays an important role. To improve biomass digestion while ensuring overall process stability, microbiome-based management strategies became more important. By applying combined metagenome and metaproteome, as well as metagenomically assembled genome (MAG)-centric analyses, it is possible to determine not only the functional potential but also the expressed functions of the entire microbial community and also individual MAGs. This approach was used in this study for the production-scale biogas plant 35 (BP35) consisting of three digesters which were operated differently regarding process temperatures, feedstocks and other process parameters. Different process conditions were hypothesized to result in specific microbiome adaptations and differentially abundant metabolic functions in the digesters. Based on metagenomic single-read analyses, several taxa residing in the three digesters of BP35 were shown to correlate with the corresponding substrates and temperatures. In particular, the genus Defluviitoga showed the strongest correlation to the process temperature and the genus Acetomicrobium featured a direct correlation to the concentartions of different acids including acetic acid. Analysis of the functional potential and expressed functions of the entire microbial community of the three digesters revealed that the genes and key enzymes relevant for the biogas process were present and also expressed. Differences between the abundances of certain genes and expressed enzymes could be related to the specific parameters of the corresponding digesters. Regarding the biogas related metabolic pathways, MAG-centric metagenomics and metaproteomics indicated the functional potential and the actual expressed metabolic functions of certain MAGs that are differentially abundant in the three digesters. These MAGs, belonging to the phylum Firmicutes, the class Bacilli and the orders Caldicoprobacterales and Bacteroidales showed a specific metabolic activity within the three digesters and have important roles in the hydrolysis, acidogenesis or acetogenesis of the anaerobic digestion process. An archaeal MAG assigned to the species Methanothermobacter wolfeii was the most abundant and highly active hydrogenotrophic methanogen in digester 3 featuring an operation temperature of 54 °C. Beside the MAGs that were differentially abundant in the three digesters, also MAGs which were more evenly distributed were analyzed. The most abundant and highly active MAG in all digesters belongs to the class Limnochordia and was shown to be ubiquitous in all three digesters and exhibit activity in a variety of pathways representing hydrolysis as well as the acido- and acetogenesis steps of the biogas process. Other MAGs assigned to the phylum Firmicutes, genus Acetomicrobium and the hydrogenotrophic species Methanoculleus thermohydrogenotrophicum were also shown to be more evenly distributed and active in the three digesters. Corresponding taxa appeared to be more resilient to the different process parameters of the three digesters, and therefore, may support a stable biogas process. Overall, the combined metagenome and metaproteome analysis of biogas digesters helps to gain deeper insights into the composition of the whole microbial community, biogas related pathways and their expression, which could contribute to an improved microbiome-based process management in the future.
Project description:By means of semi-continuous experiment, the washout effect of incoming and outgoing materials and long-term accumulation of endogenous ammonia in actual anaerobic digestion plant were simulated, and the ammonia inhibition mechanism in anaerobic digestion was explored.
Project description:Bacteriophage – host dynamics and interactions are important for microbial community composition and ecosystem function. Nonetheless, empirical evidence in engineered environment is scarce. Here, we examined phage and prokaryotic community composition of four anaerobic digestors in full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across China. Despite relatively stable process performance in biogas production, both phage and prokaryotic groups fluctuated monthly over a year of study period. Nonetheless, there were significant correlations in their α- and β-diversities between phage and prokaryotes. Phages explained 40.6% of total prokaryotic community composition, much higher than the explainable power by abiotic factors (14.5%). Consequently, phages were significantly (P<0.010) linked to parameters related to process performance including biogas production and volatile solid concentrations. Association network analyses showed that phage-prokaryote pairs were deeply rooted, and two network modules were exclusively comprised of phages, suggesting a possibility of co-infection. Those results collectively demonstrate phages as a major biotic factor in controlling bacterial composition. Therefore, phages may play a larger role in shaping prokaryotic dynamics and process performance of WWTPs than currently appreciated, enabling reliable prediction of microbial communities across time and space.
2016-12-29 | GSE92978 | GEO
Project description:Metatranscriptome of bioaugmented semi-continuous anaerobic digestion
Project description:Population dynamics of methanogenic genera was investigated in pilot anaerobic digesters. Cattle manure and two-phase olive mill wastes were codigested at a 3:1 ratio in two reactors operated at 37 ï¾°C and 55 ï¾°C. Other two reactors were run with either residue at 37 ï¾°C. Sludge DNA extracted from samples taken from all four reactors on days 4, 14 and 28 of digestion was used for hybridisation with the AnaeroChip, an oligonucleotide microarray targeting those groups of methanogenic archaea that are commonly found under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions (Franke-Whittle et al. 2009, in press, doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2009.09.017).