Correlating microbial community structure and composition with aeration intensity in submerged membrane bioreactors by 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing

► Microbial compositions of SMBRs with varied aeration intensity were studied. ► The evolution mainly occurred in the shared operational taxonomic units (OTUs). ► β-Proteobacteria and γ-Proteobacteria reduction was consistent with fouling mitigation. ► The number of nitrifiers decreased under high aeration while nitrification was less affected.