Metagenomic analysis of three anaerobic bioreactors experiencing differing degrees of instability

In this study, the impact of historical environmental stability on ecological phenomena and microbial community resistance to shocks was investigated. Three separate methanogenic bioreactor consortia, which were subjected to varying degrees of historical environmental stability, and displayed different levels of resistance to an organic loading rate (OLR) shock were sampled. Their community composition was assessed using high throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and assembly based metagenomics.