Identifying methanogen community structures and their correlations with performance parameters in four full-scale anaerobic sludge digesters

Taewoan Koo, Seung Gu Shin, Joonyeob Lee, Gyuseong Han, Woong Kim, Kyungjin Cho, Seokhwan Hwang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Four full-scale mesophilic anaerobic digesters treating waste sludge were monitored to characterize methanogen communities and their relationship with process parameters. The performance of the four digesters were dissimilar with the average chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies between 24 and 45% and differing pH. Real-time quantitative PCR showed that archaeal 16S rRNA gene concentration ([ARC]) and, more pronouncedly, its ratio to bacterial counterpart ([ARC]/[BAC]) correlated positively with the performance parameters, including the lipid removal efficiency. Pyrosequencing identified 12 methanogen genera, of which Methanolinea, Methansaeta, and Methanospirillum collectively accounted for 79.2% of total archaeal reads. However, Methanoculleus, a numerically minor (1.9 ± 2.6%) taxa, was the most promising biomarker for positive performance, while Methanoregula was abundant in samples with poor performance. These results could be useful for the control and management of anaerobic sludge digestion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)368-373
Number of pages6
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume228
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2017

Keywords

  • 454 pyrosequencing
  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Archaea-to-bacteria ratio
  • Biomarker
  • Methanoculleus
  • Methanoregula
  • Real-time quantitative PCR

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