Active microbiome during Specific Methanogenic Activities and Single Granules as whole-ecosystems. Specific Methanogenic Activities and Single Granules

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the cooperative action of several groups of microorganisms to degrade organic matter in the absence of oxygen. It is an evolutionarily ancient process and occurs naturally in anaerobic environments but has in recent years been harnessed to work in engineered systems to degrade organic wastes. Anaerobic granules are small, spherical biofilm aggregates which underpin the success of modern anaerobic treatment processes, but not all granules are the same size or the same shape. Previous experiments support the idea that granules of different size may have different primary functions along the AD pathway, but functional differences according to size is largely under-researched. This study uses a series of controlled tests and high-throughput DNA sequencing technology, and bioinformatics, to characterise the physico-chemistry, metabolism and physiology, and microbial ecology of anaerobic sludge granules, and to determine which, microorganisms and which metabolic pathways dominate in granules of different size.