The Role of Petrimonas mucosa ING2-E5AT in Mesophilic Biogas Reactor Systems as Deduced from Multiomics Analyses

Impact and migration behavior of triclosan on waste-activated sludge anaerobic digestion

Triclosan (TCS), a hydrophobic antibacterial agent, is extensive application in daily life. Despite a low biodegradability rate, its hydrophobicity results in its accumulation in waste-activated sludge (WAS) during domestic and industrial wastewater treatment. While anaerobic digestion is the foremost strategy for WAS treatment, limited research has explored the interphase migration behavior and impacts of TCS on WAS degradation during anaerobic digestion. This study revealed TCS migration between solid- and liquid-phase in WAS digestion. The solid-liquid distribution coefficients of TCS were negative for proteins and polysaccharides and positive for ammonium. High TCS levels promoted volatile-fatty-acid accumulation and reduced methane production. Enzyme activity tests and functional prediction indicated that TCS increased enzyme activity associated with acid production, in contrast to the inhibition of key methanogenic enzymes. The findings of the TCS migration behavior and its impacts on WAS anaerobic digestion provide an in-depth understanding of the evolution of enhanced TCS-removing technology.

Breakdown of hardly degradable carbohydrates (lignocellulose) in a two-stage anaerobic digestion plant is favored in the main fermenter

The yield and productivity of biogas plants depend on the degradation performance of their microbiomes. The spatial separation of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process into a separate hydrolysis and a main fermenter should improve cultivation conditions of the microorganisms involved in the degradation of complex substrates like lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) and, thus, the performance of anaerobic digesters. However, relatively little is known about such two-stage processes. Here, we investigated the process performance of a two-stage agricultural AD over one year, focusing on chemical and technical process parameters and metagenome-centric metaproteomics. Technical and chemical parameters indicated stable operation of the main fermenter but varying conditions for the open hydrolysis fermenter. Matching this, the microbiome in the hydrolysis fermenter has a higher dynamic than in the main fermenter. Metaproteomics-based microbiome analysis revealed a partial separation between early and common steps in carbohydrate degradation and primary fermentation in the hydrolysis fermenter but complex carbohydrate degradation, secondary fermentation, and methanogenesis in the main fermenter. Detailed metagenomics and metaproteomics characterization of the single metagenome-assembled genomes showed that the species focus on specific substrate niches and do not utilize their full genetic potential to degrade, for example, LCB. Overall, it seems that a separation of AD in a hydrolysis and a main fermenter does not improve the cleavage of complex substrates but significantly improves the overall process performance. In contrast, the remaining methanogenic activity in the hydrolysis fermenter may cause methane losses.

Biosynthesis mechanisms of medium-chain carboxylic acids and alcohols in anaerobic microalgae fermentation regulated by pH conditions

Valorization of microalgae into high-value products and drop-in chemicals can reduce our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels in an environmentally sustainable way. Among the valuable products, medium-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs) and alcohols are attractive building blocks as fuel precursors. However, the biosynthetic mechanisms of MCCAs and alcohols in anaerobic microalgae fermentation and the regulating role of pH on the microbial structure and metabolism interaction among different functional groups have never been documented. In this work, we systematically investigated the roles of pH (5, 7, and 10) on the production of MCCAs and alcohols in anaerobic microalgae fermentation. The gene-centric and genome-centric metagenomes were employed to uncover the dynamics and metabolic network of the key players in the microbial communities. The results indicated that the pH significantly changed the product spectrum. The maximum production rate of alcohol was obtained at pH 5, while pH 7 was more beneficial for MCCA production. Metagenomic analysis reveals that this differential performance under different pH is attributed to the transformation of microbial guild and metabolism regulated by pH. The composition of various functional groups for MCCA and alcohol production also varies at different pH levels. Finally, a metabolic network was proposed to reveal the microbial interactions at different pH levels and thus provide insights into bioconversion of microalgae to high-value biofuels.IMPORTANCECarboxylate platforms encompass a biosynthesis process involving a mixed and undefined culture, enabling the conversion of microalgae, rich in carbohydrates and protein, into valuable fuels and mitigating the risks associated with algae blooms. However, there is little known about the effects of pH on the metabolic pathways of chain elongation and alcohol production in anaerobic microalgae fermentation. Moreover, convoluted and interdependent microbial interactions encumber efforts to characterize how organics and electrons flow among microbiome members. In this work, we compared metabolic differences among three different pH levels (5, 7, and 10) in anaerobic microalgae fermentation. In addition, genome-centric metagenomic analysis was conducted to reveal the microbial interaction for medium-chain carboxylic acid and alcohol production.

Ex-situ biomethanation for CO2 valorization: State of the art, recent advances, challenges, and future prospective

Ex-situ biomethanation is an emerging technology that facilitates the use of surplus renewable electricity and valorizes carbon dioxide (CO2) for biomethane production by hydrogenotrophic methanogens. This review offers an up-to-date overview of the current state of ex-situ biomethanation and thoroughly analyzes key operational parameters affecting hydrogen (H2) gas-liquid mass transfer and biomethanation performance, along with an in-depth discussion of the technical challenges. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review article to discuss microbial community structure in liquid and biofilm phases and their responses after exposure to H2 starvation during ex-situ biomethanation. In addition, future research in areas such as reactor configuration and optimization of operational parameters for improving the H2 mass transfer rate, inhibiting opportunistic homoacetogens, integration of membrane technology, and use of conductive packing material is recommended to overcome challenges and improve the efficiency of ex-situ biomethanation. Furthermore, this review presents a techno-economic analysis for the future development and facilitation of industrial implementation. The insights presented in this review will offer useful information to identify state-of-the-art research trends and realize the full potential of this emerging technology for CO2 utilization and biomethane production.

Enhancing sludge methanogenesis with changed micro-environment of anaerobic microorganisms by Fenton iron mud

Conductive materials have been demonstrated to enhance sludge methanogenesis, but few researches have concentrated on the interaction among conductive materials, microorganisms and their immediate living environment. In this study, Fenton iron mud with a high abundance of Fe(III) was recycled and applied in anaerobic reactors to promote anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The results show that the primary content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) such as polysaccharides and proteins increased significantly, possibly promoting microbial aggregation. Furthermore, with the increment of redox mediators including humic substances in EPS and Fe(III) introduced by Fenton iron mud, the direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) between methanogens and interacting bacteria could be accelerated, which enhanced the rate of methanogenesis in anaerobic digestion (35.21 ± 4.53% increase compared to the control). The further analysis of the anaerobic microbial community confirmed the fact that Fenton iron mud enriched functional microorganisms, such as the abundance of CO2-reducing (e.g. Chloroflexi) and Fe(III)-reducing bacteria (e.g., Tepidimicrobium), thereby expediting the electron transfer reaction in the AD process via microbial DIET and dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR). This work will make it possible for using the recycled hazardous material - Fenton iron mud to improve the performance of anaerobic granular sludge during methanogenesis.

Uncovering Microbiome Adaptations in a Full-Scale Biogas Plant: Insights from MAG-Centric Metagenomics and Metaproteomics

The current focus on renewable energy in global policy highlights the importance of methane production from biomass through anaerobic digestion (AD). To improve biomass digestion while ensuring overall process stability, microbiome-based management strategies become more important. In this study, metagenomes and metaproteomes were used for metagenomically assembled genome (MAG)-centric analyses to investigate a full-scale biogas plant consisting of three differentially operated digesters. Microbial communities were analyzed regarding their taxonomic composition, functional potential, as well as functions expressed on the proteome level. Different abundances of genes and enzymes related to the biogas process could be mostly attributed to different process parameters. Individual MAGs exhibiting different abundances in the digesters were studied in detail, and their roles in the hydrolysis, acidogenesis and acetogenesis steps of anaerobic digestion could be assigned. Methanoculleus thermohydrogenotrophicum was an active hydrogenotrophic methanogen in all three digesters, whereas Methanothermobacter wolfeii was more prevalent at higher process temperatures. Further analysis focused on MAGs, which were abundant in all digesters, indicating their potential to ensure biogas process stability. The most prevalent MAG belonged to the class Limnochordia; this MAG was ubiquitous in all three digesters and exhibited activity in numerous pathways related to different steps of AD.

Enhanced biodegradation of perfluorooctanoic acid in a dual biocatalyzed microbial electrosynthesis system

The toxic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is widely spread in terrestrial and aquatic habitats owing to its resistance to conventional degradation processes. Advanced techniques to degrade PFOA requires drastic conditions with high energy cost. In this study, we investigated PFOA biodegradation in a simple dual biocatalyzed microbial electrosynthesis system (MES). Different PFOA loadings (1, 5, and 10 ppm) were tested and a biodegradation of 91% was observed within 120 h. Propionate production improved and short-carbon-chain PFOA intermediates were detected, which confirmed PFOA biodegradation. However, the current density decreased, indicating an inhibitory effect of PFOA. High-throughput biofilm analysis revealed that PFOA regulated the microbial flora. Microbial community analysis showed enrichment of the more resilient and PFOA adaptive microbes, including Methanosarcina and Petrimonas. Our study promotes the potential use of dual biocatalyzed MES system as an environment-friendly and inexpensive method to remediate PFOA and provides a new direction for bioremediation research.

Potential methanogenic and degradation of nonylphenol ethoxylate from domestic sewage: unravelling the essential roles of nutritional conditions and microbial community

Nonylphenol ethoxylathe (NPEO) is a non-ionic surfactant of increasing concern, used in the formulation of laundry detergents and is frequently found in aquatic environments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of yeast extract (YE) and sodium fumarate (SF) in NPEO removal from domestic sewage under anaerobic conditions via central composite rotatable design (CCRD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Experiments were designed by varying concentrations of NPEO (1.6-5.8 mg L^-1), YE (131.8-468.2 mg L^-1) and SF (97.7-602.3 mg L^-1) in batch reactors. SF and YE addition significantly influenced NPEO removal and CH₄ production. Optimal values of YE (400 mg L^-1) and SF (200 mg L^-1) result in removal efficiency of 97% for 5 mg L^-1 of NPEO, being mostly removed by biodegradation (86%). Meanwhile COD removal was 95% and methane yield was 134 ± 4 NmLCH₄ g^-¹COD_removed. The most abundant Bacteria genus identified were Macellibacteroides, Longilinea, Petrimonas and Proteiniphilum, while for Archaea, Methanosaeta and Methanoregula were the genera identified in higher relative abundances in optimized conditions.

Renewable biohydrogen production from Clostridium sp. LQ25 using different forms of ferric as electron acceptor

Clostridium sp. LQ25 was cultured in different forms of ferric (ferric citrate and ferric hydroxide) as electron acceptors to investigate growth, ferric reduction, hydrogen production, fermentation products and fermentation process. The growth of the strain LQ25 detected by protein was 82.8 ± 2.1 mg/L and 73.5 ± 1.7 mg/L using ferric citrate and ferric hydroxide as electron acceptors, which was 33.3 % and 18.4 % higher than without ferric, respectively. The accumulation concentration of Fe(II) was 9.0 ± 0.6 mg/L and 5.0 ± 0.2 mg/L when using ferric citrate and ferric hydroxide as electron acceptors, and ferric citrate was 1.8-fold higher than ferric hydroxide, which indicated that the ability of ferric reduction was higher using ferric citrate as electron acceptor. The hydrogen production of strain LQ25 was 238.0 ± 1.0 mmol/mol glucose and 113.0 ± 1.3 mmol/mol glucose under condition of ferric citrate and ferric hydroxide as electron acceptors, which was 2.6 and 1.2-fold higher than without ferric, respectively. The growth and hydrogen production of strain LQ25 was promoted by using ferric as electron acceptor, while the fermentation type of strain did not change and was always butyrate type. The differential expression of the genes of strain LQ25 was significant when using ferric as electron acceptor, mainly in NADH and PFL pathway. This study provided preliminary evidence for hydrogen production by Clostridium sp. LQ25 in the presence of electron acceptor.

Anaeropeptidivorans aminofermentans gen. nov., sp. nov., a mesophilic proteolytic salt-tolerant bacterium isolated from a laboratory-scale biogas fermenter, and emended description of Clostridium colinum

An anaerobic bacterial strain, designated strain M3/9^T, was isolated from a laboratory-scale biogas fermenter fed with maize silage supplemented with 5 % wheat straw. Cells were straight, non-motile rods, which stained Gram-negative. Optimal growth occurred between 30 and 40°C, at pH 7.5-8.5, and up to 3.9 % (w/v) NaCl was tolerated. When grown on peptone from casein and soymeal, strain M3/9^T produced mainly acetic acid, ethanol, and isobutyric acid. The major cellular fatty acids of the novel strain were C_16 : 0 and C_16 : 0 DMA. The genome of strain M3/9^T is 3757  330 bp in size with a G+C content of 38.45 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis allocated strain M3/9^T within the family Lachnospiraceae with Clostridium colinum DSM 6011^T and Anaerotignum lactatifermentans DSM 14214^T being the most closely related species sharing 57.86 and 56.99% average amino acid identity and 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 91.58 and 91.26 %, respectively. Based on physiological, chemotaxonomic and genetic data, we propose the description of a novel species and genus Anaeropeptidivorans aminofermentans gen. nov., sp. nov., represented by the type strain M3/9^T (=DSM 100058^T=LMG 29527^T). In addition, an emended description of Clostridium colinum is provided.

Functional Microbial Communities in Hybrid Linear Flow Channel Reactors for Desulfurization of Tannery Effluent

Recent research has demonstrated that hybrid linear flow channel reactors (HLFCRs) can desulfurize tannery effluent via sulfate reduction and concurrent oxidation of sulfide to elemental sulfur. The reactors can be used to pre-treat tannery effluent to improve the efficiency of downstream anaerobic digestion and recover sulfur. This study was conducted to gain insight into the bacterial communities in HLFCRs operated in series and identify structure-function relationships. This was accomplished by interpreting the results obtained from amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and quantification of the dissimilatory sulfite reducing (dsrB) gene. In an effort to provide a suitable inoculum, microbial consortia were harvested from saline estuaries and enriched. However, it was found that bioaugmentation was not necessary because native communities from tannery wastewater were selected over exogenous communities from the enriched consortia. Overall, Dethiosulfovibrio sp. and Petrimonas sp. were strongly selected (maximum relative abundances of 29% and 26%, respectively), while Desulfobacterium autotrophicum (57%), and Desulfobacter halotolerans (27%) dominated the sulfate reducing bacteria. The presence of elemental sulfur reducing genera such as Dethiosulfovibrio and Petrimonas is not desirable in HLFCRs, and strategies to counter their selection need to be considered to ensure efficiency of these systems for pre-treatment of tannery effluent.

Adaptation of a microbial community to demand-oriented biological methanation

BACKGROUND

Biological conversion of the surplus of renewable electricity and carbon dioxide (CO₂) from biogas plants to biomethane (CH₄) could support energy storage and strengthen the power grid. Biological methanation (BM) is linked closely to the activity of biogas-producing Bacteria and methanogenic Archaea. During reactor operations, the microbiome is often subject to various changes, e.g., substrate limitation or pH-shifts, whereby the microorganisms are challenged to adapt to the new conditions. In this study, various process parameters including pH value, CH₄ production rate, conversion yields and final gas composition were monitored for a hydrogenotrophic-adapted microbial community cultivated in a laboratory-scale BM reactor. To investigate the robustness of the BM process regarding power oscillations, the biogas microbiome was exposed to five hydrogen (H₂)-feeding regimes lasting several days.

RESULTS

Applying various "on-off" H₂-feeding regimes, the CH₄ production rate recovered quickly, demonstrating a significant resilience of the microbial community. Analyses of the taxonomic composition of the microbiome revealed a high abundance of the bacterial phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidota and Thermotogota followed by hydrogenotrophic Archaea of the phylum Methanobacteriota. Homo-acetogenic and heterotrophic fermenting Bacteria formed a complex food web with methanogens. The abundance of the methanogenic Archaea roughly doubled during discontinuous H₂-feeding, which was related mainly to an increase in acetoclastic Methanothrix species. Results also suggested that Bacteria feeding on methanogens could reduce overall CH₄ production. On the other hand, using inactive biomass as a substrate could support the growth of methanogenic Archaea. During the BM process, the additional production of H₂ by fermenting Bacteria seemed to support the maintenance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens at non-H₂-feeding phases. Besides the elusive role of Methanothrix during the H₂-feeding phases, acetate consumption and pH maintenance at the non-feeding phase can be assigned to this species.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, the high adaptive potential of microbial communities contributes to the robustness of BM processes during discontinuous H₂-feeding and supports the commercial use of BM processes for energy storage. Discontinuous feeding strategies could be used to enrich methanogenic Archaea during the establishment of a microbial community for BM. Both findings could contribute to design and improve BM processes from lab to pilot scale.

The novel oligopeptide utilizing species Anaeropeptidivorans aminofermentans M3/9T, its role in anaerobic digestion and occurrence as deduced from large-scale fragment recruitment analyses

Research on biogas-producing microbial communities aims at elucidation of correlations and dependencies between the anaerobic digestion (AD) process and the corresponding microbiome composition in order to optimize the performance of the process and the biogas output. Previously, Lachnospiraceae species were frequently detected in mesophilic to moderately thermophilic biogas reactors. To analyze adaptive genome features of a representative Lachnospiraceae strain, Anaeropeptidivorans aminofermentans M3/9T was isolated from a mesophilic laboratory-scale biogas plant and its genome was sequenced and analyzed in detail. Strain M3/9T possesses a number of genes encoding enzymes for degradation of proteins, oligo- and dipeptides. Moreover, genes encoding enzymes participating in fermentation of amino acids released from peptide hydrolysis were also identified. Based on further findings obtained from metabolic pathway reconstruction, M3/9T was predicted to participate in acidogenesis within the AD process. To understand the genomic diversity between the biogas isolate M3/9T and closely related Anaerotignum type strains, genome sequence comparisons were performed. M3/9T harbors 1,693 strain-specific genes among others encoding different peptidases, a phosphotransferase system (PTS) for sugar uptake, but also proteins involved in extracellular solute binding and import, sporulation and flagellar biosynthesis. In order to determine the occurrence of M3/9T in other environments, large-scale fragment recruitments with the M3/9T genome as a template and publicly available metagenomes representing different environments was performed. The strain was detected in the intestine of mammals, being most abundant in goat feces, occasionally used as a substrate for biogas production.

Combined modifications of CaO and liquid fraction of digestate for augmenting volatile fatty acids production from rice straw: Microbial and proteomics insights

The modification sequence of chemical (CaO) and biological (liquid fraction of digestate, LFD) for augmenting volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production from rice straw was investigated in this study. The coupling order of the modifiers influenced acidification performance, and simultaneous modification (CaO-LFD) was superior to other modes. The highest VFAs production was obtained in CaO-LFD, 51% higher than that in the LFD-first additional modification. The CaO-LFD demonstrated the highest selectivity of acetate production, accounting for 79% of the total VFAs. In addition, CaO-LFD modification changed the direction of the domestication of fermentative bacteria and increased populations of the key anaerobes (Atopostipes sp.) responsible for acidification. The synergistic effect of CaO and LFD was revealed, namely, the effective function of CaO in degrading recalcitrant rice straw, the promotion of transport/metabolism of carbohydrates and acetogenesis by LFD.

Phage Genome Diversity in a Biogas-Producing Microbiome Analyzed by Illumina and Nanopore GridION Sequencing

The microbial biogas network is complex and intertwined, and therefore relatively stable in its overall functionality. However, if key functional groups of microorganisms are affected by biotic or abiotic factors, the entire efficacy may be impaired. Bacteriophages are hypothesized to alter the steering process of the microbial network. In this study, an enriched fraction of virus-like particles was extracted from a mesophilic biogas reactor and sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq and Nanopore GridION sequencing platforms. Metagenome data analysis resulted in identifying 375 metagenome-assembled viral genomes (MAVGs). Two-thirds of the classified sequences were only assigned to the superkingdom Viruses and the remaining third to the family Siphoviridae, followed by Myoviridae, Podoviridae, Tectiviridae, and Inoviridae. The metavirome showed a close relationship to the phage genomes that infect members of the classes Clostridia and Bacilli. Using publicly available biogas metagenomic data, a fragment recruitment approach showed the widespread distribution of the MAVGs studied in other biogas microbiomes. In particular, phage sequences from mesophilic microbiomes were highly similar to the phage sequences of this study. Accordingly, the virus particle enrichment approach and metavirome sequencing provided additional genome sequence information for novel virome members, thus expanding the current knowledge of viral genetic diversity in biogas reactors.

Microbial community redundance in biomethanation systems lead to faster recovery of methane production rates after starvation

The Power-to-Gas concept corresponds to the use of the electric energy surplus to produce H₂ by water electrolysis, that can be further converted to methane by biomethanation. However, the fluctuant production of renewable energy sources can lead to discontinuous H₂ injections into the reactors, that may interfere with the adaptation of the microbial community to high H₂ partial pressures. In this study, the response of the microbial community to H₂ and organic feed starvation was evaluated in in-situ and ex-situ biomethanation. The fed-batch reactors were fed with acetate or glucose and H₂, and one or four weeks of starvation periods were investigated. Methane productivity was mostly affected by the four-week starvation period. However, both in-situ and ex-situ biomethanation reactors recovered their methane production rate after starvation within approximately one-week of normal operation, while the anaerobic digestion (AD) reactors did not recover their performances even after 3 weeks of normal operation. The recovery failure of the AD reactors was probably related to a slow growth of the syntrophic and methanogen microorganisms, that led to a VFA accumulation. On the contrary, the faster recovery of both biomethanation reactors was related to the replacement of Methanoculleus sp. by Methanobacterium sp., restoring the methane production in the in-situ and ex-situ biomethanation reactors. This study has shown that biomethanation processes can respond favourably to the intermittent H₂ addition without compromising their CH₄ production performance.

The biological and abiotic effects of powdered activated carbon on the anaerobic digestion performance of cornstalk

To comprehensively evaluate the biological and abiotic influence of powdered activated carbon (PAC) on the anaerobic digestion of cornstalk, mesophilic and thermophilic digestion were conducted. Adding PAC (10 g/L) under thermophilic system obtained the maximum cellulose degradation rate and methane yield (MY), which were 57.47% and 128.19 L/kg VS. However, adding same dose of PAC at mesophilic system decreased the MY by 8.16% while increased the cellulose degradation rate and methane production rate by 6.48% and 17.92%. Under mesophilic conditions, the enhancement of PAC was owing to the enrichment of cellulolytic microorganisms, improvement of the syntrophic process and direct interspecies electron transfer. The lower methane yield was attributed to the adsorption of carbon source by PAC and CH₄ consumption by Norank_c_Bathyarchaeia. The good performance of thermophilic system was owing to the lower adsorption capability of PAC, absence of Norank_c_Bathyarchaeia, and concentrated carbon flow to methane.

Variimorphobacter saccharofermentans gen. nov., sp. nov., a new member of the family Lachnospiraceae, isolated from a maize-fed biogas fermenter

Strain MD1^T is an anaerobic, Gram-stain-negative bacterium isolated from a lab-scale biogas fermenter fed with maize silage. It has a rod-shaped morphology with peritrichously arranged appendages and forms long chains of cells and coccoid structures. The colonies of MD1^T were white, circular, slightly convex and had a smooth rim. The isolate is mesophilic, displaying growth between 25 and 45 °C with an optimum at 40 °C. It grew at pH values of pH 6.7-8.2 (optimum, pH 7.1) and tolerated the addition of up to 1.5% (w/v) NaCl to the medium. The main cellular fatty acids of MD1^T are C_14:0 DMA and C_16:0. Strain MD1^T fermented xylose, arabinose, glucose, galactose, cellobiose, maltose, maltodextrin10, lactose starch, and xylan, producing mainly 2-propanol and acetic acid. The genome of the organism has a total length of 4163427 bp with a G+C content of 38.5 mol%. The two closest relatives to MD1^T are Mobilitalea sibirica P3M-3^T and Anaerotaenia torta FH052^T with 96.44 or 95.8 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and POCP values of 46.58 and 50.58%, respectively. As MD1^T showed saccharolytic and xylanolytic properties, it may play an important role in the biogas fermentation process. Closely related variants of MD1^T were also abundant in microbial communities involved in methanogenic fermentation. Based on morphological, phylogenetic and genomic data, the isolated strain can be considered as representing a novel genus in the family Lachnospiraceae, for which the name Variimorphobacter saccharofermentans gen. nov., sp. nov. (type strain MD1^T=DSM 110715^T=JCM 39125^T) is proposed.

Microbial Communities in Flexible Biomethanation of Hydrogen Are Functionally Resilient Upon Starvation

Ex situ biomethanation allows the conversion of hydrogen produced from surplus electricity to methane. The flexibility of the process was recently demonstrated, yet it is unknown how intermittent hydrogen feeding impacts the functionality of the microbial communities. We investigated the effect of starvation events on the hydrogen consumption and methane production rates (MPRs) of two different methanogenic communities that were fed with hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Both communities showed functional resilience in terms of hydrogen consumption and MPRs upon starvation periods of up to 14 days. The origin of the inoculum, community structure and dominant methanogens were decisive for high gas conversion rates. Thus, pre-screening a well performing inoculum is essential to ensure the efficiency of biomethanation systems operating under flexible gas feeding regimes. Our results suggest that the type of the predominant hydrogenotrophic methanogen (here: Methanobacterium) is important for an efficient process. We also show that flexible biomethanation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide with complex microbiota is possible while avoiding the accumulation of acetate, which is relevant for practical implementation. In our study, the inoculum from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor treating wastewater from paper industry performed better compared to the inoculum from a plug flow reactor treating cow manure and corn silage. Therefore, the implementation of the power-to-gas concept in wastewater treatment plants of the paper industry, where biocatalytic biomass is readily available, may be a viable option to reduce the carbon footprint of the paper industry.