Zhang, Wei, Alessi, Anna M, Heaven, Sonia et al. (2 more authors) (2021) Dynamic changes in anaerobic digester metabolic pathways and microbial populations during acclimatisation to increasing ammonium concentrations. Waste Management. pp. 409-419. ISSN 0956-053X
Abstract
Transitions in microbial community structure in response to increasing ammonia concentrations were determined by monitoring mesophilic anaerobic digesters seeded with a predominantly acetoclastic methanogenic community from a sewage sludge digester. Ammonia concentration was raised by switching the feed to source segregated domestic food waste and applying two organic loading rates (OLR) and hydraulic retention times (HRT) in paired digesters. One of each pair was dosed with trace elements (TE) known to be essential to the transition, with the other unsupplemented digester acting as a control. Samples taken during the trial were used to determine the metabolic pathway to methanogenesis using 14C labelled acetate. Partitioning of 14C between the product gases was interpreted via an equation to indicate the proportion produced by acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic routes. Archaeal and selected bacterial groups were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing, to determine relative abundance and diversity. Acclimatisation for digesters with TE was relatively smooth, but OLR and HRT influenced both metabolic route and community structure. The 14C ratio could be used quantitatively and, when interpreted alongside archaeal community structure, showed that at longer HRT and lower loading Methanobacteriaceae were dominant and hydrogenotrophic activity accounted for 77% of methane production. At the higher OLR and shorter HRT, Methanosarcinaceae were dominant with the 14C ratio indicating simultaneous production of methane by acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic pathways: the first reported observation of this in digestion under mesophilic conditions. Digesters without TE supplementation showed similar initial changes but, as expected failed to complete the transition to stable operation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Biology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 13 Oct 2021 09:00 |
Last Modified: | 29 Dec 2024 00:13 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2021.09.017 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.wasman.2021.09.017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:179122 |
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Filename: 20210918_Zhang_et_al_accepted_version.pdf
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 2.5