The effect of substrate and operational parameters on the abundance of sulphate-reducing bacteria in industrial anaerobic biogas digesters

► Abundance of sulphate-reducing bacteria was determined by qPCR targeting dsrB in biogas digesters. ► Sulphate-reducing bacteria were tolerant to most operational strategies used in industrial biogas plants. ► High concentrations of ammonia and ammonium lead to decreased abundance of sulphate-reducing bacteria.