Cold adaptation and replicable microbial community development during long-term low temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of synthetic sewage

Keating, C. , Hughes, D., Mahony, T., Cysneiros, D., Ijaz, U.Z. , Smith, C.J. and O‘Flaherty, V. (2018) Cold adaptation and replicable microbial community development during long-term low temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of synthetic sewage. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 94(7), fiy095. (doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiy095) (PMID:29846574) (PMCID:PMC5995215)

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Abstract

The development and, activity of a cold-adapting microbial community was monitored during low temperature anaerobic digestion (LtAD) treatment of wastewater. Two replicate hybrid anaerobic sludge bed-fixed-film reactors treated a synthetic sewage wastewater at 12°C, at organic loading rates of 0.25–1.0 kg Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) m−3 d−1, over 889 days. The inoculum was obtained from a full-scale AD reactor, which was operated at 37˚C. Both LtAD reactors readily degraded the influent with COD removal efficiencies regularly exceeding 78% for both the total and soluble COD fractions. The biomass from both reactors was sampled temporally and tested for activity against hydrolytic and methanogenic substrates at 12˚C and 37˚C. Data indicated that significantly enhanced low-temperature hydrolytic and methanogenic activity developed in both systems. For example, the hydrolysis rate constant (K) at 12°C had increased 20–30-fold by comparison to the inoculum by day 500. Substrate affinity also increased for hydrolytic substrates at low temperature. Next generation sequencing demonstrated that a shift in community structure occurred over the trial, involving a 1-log-fold change in 25 SEQS (OTU-free approach) from the inoculum. Microbial community structure changes and process performance were replicable in the LtAD reactors.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Keating, Dr Ciara and Smith, Professor Cindy and Ijaz, Dr Umer
Authors: Keating, C., Hughes, D., Mahony, T., Cysneiros, D., Ijaz, U.Z., Smith, C.J., and O‘Flaherty, V.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
Journal Name:FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Publisher:Oxford University Press
ISSN:0168-6496
ISSN (Online):1574-6941
Published Online:25 May 2018
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 FEMS
First Published:First published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology 94(7): fiy095
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
652772Understanding microbial community through in situ environmental 'omic data synthesisUmer Zeeshan IjazNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)NE/L011956/1ENG - ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE & ENVIR