Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
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1271398 | International Journal of Hydrogen Energy | 2012 | 16 Pages |
To explore of role of microbial diversity and its functionality in commercial bioreactors, three anaerobic microbial communities from Ontario, Canada were characterized using 16S rRNA gene-based, clone library sequencing and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and compared with the hydrogen (H2) and methane yields. The T-RFLP method showed more operational taxonomic units than the clone library sequence analysis; however, the two methods showed similar dominant species and relative diversity while Spearman's Rank correlation coefficient (r) values ranged from 0.82 to 0.91. The Chao 1 and Shannon-Wiener indices revealed that the cultures samples have highly diverse microbial communities. Comparatively, cultures from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (CA) showed more diversity than those from facilities treating effluents from a baby food processor and a brewery. Even though culture CA has the highest microbial diversity, low H2 and methane production yield was attributed to the presence of sulphate reducers, propionate producers and a low percentage of methanogens. This study confirms that the selection of the source of mixed anaerobic cultures plays an important role in H2 and methane production.
Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Microbial cultures from three waste water treatments facilities were characterized. ► 16S rDNA community analysis methods are highly correlated. ► Anaerobic mixed microbial community source influenced H2 and CH4 production. ► Microbial genetic analyses explained the failure of anaerobic bioreactors.