Foodwaste Bioreactor Communities

This study investigated the possibility of increasing 3-hydroxyvalerate fraction in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) produced by Haloferax mediterranei through increasing the propionic and valeric acid fractions in volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced from food waste via arrested anaerobic digestion with and without microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) incorporation. Illumina sequencing of amplicons of variable region 4 of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to identify changes in relative abundance of the microbial community members between arrested anaerobic digestion microbial electrochemical cell (aAD-MEC) with 1.5 V applied potential and control reactors with electrodes left at open circuit potential (OCP). Differences in microbial community diversity and dominate species may help explain the VFA profile altering in aAD-MEC reactors with 1.5 V applied potential and in OCP control reactors without 1.5 V applied potential.