Correlation between microbial community structure and biofouling in a laboratory scale membrane bioreactor with synthetic wastewater

► Microbial community in membrane bioreactor was analyzed using pyrosequencing and bioinformatic pipelines. ► Despite of dynamic population shift during continuous operation, dominant microbial groups were identified in both mixed liquor and bio-cake. ► One of the dominant community bacterial strain was isolated and its quorum sensing activity was detected in biofilm maturation stage.