Bacterial 16S rRNA gene diversity of wastewater used in microbial fuel cell. wastewater metagenome

This study evaluates the microbial community and bioelectrochemical activities in microbial fuel cell (MFC) using industrial petrochemical and domestic microbial consortia. The investigation of the microbial consortia aimed at degrading 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and generating electricity. Community wide bacterial 16S rRNA gene diversity was employed for identifying taxa involved in the MFC bioelectrochemical activities and phenolic degradation. The industrial microbial consortium (IMC) performed relatively well in generating the voltage outputs of 360 mV with 40% phenolic degradation as compared to domestic microbial consortium (DMC) with voltage output of 220 mV and 60% phenolic degradation. Arcobacter and Cloacibacterium in DMC was found to be important genera for the 2,4-DCP degradation while Bacillus dominated IMC contributing in electricity generation and the 2,4-DCP degradation in the MFC. These results have provided new insights about phenolics fed MFC.