Continuous culture Metagenome

A continuous culture bioreactor setup was used to enrich a heterotrophic denitrifying microbial community from a tidal flat in the German Wadden Sea under defined, alternating oxic/anoxic conditions. With this continuous culture setup the environmental conditions of a Wadden Sea tidal flat were simulated, nitrate and nitrite were supplied as the main electron acceptors and oxygen was supplied periodically, mimicking tidal cycling. Carbon and energy source consisted of a mixture of glucose, aminoacids and acetate, in a ratio similar to decaying biomass, the main carbon and energy source in situ. The selected microbial community was analyzed thoroughly, including metagenomics and metaproteomics. It was possible to select a simple microbial community, dominated by representatives of phylogenetic clades relevant to the tidal flat sediment.