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Endurance of methanogenic archaea in anaerobic bioreactors treating oleate-based wastewater

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Methanogenic archaea are reported as very sensitive to lipids and long chain fatty acids (LCFA). Therefore, in conventional anaerobic processes, methane recovery during LCFA-rich wastewater treatment is usually low. By applying a start-up strategy, based on a sequence of step feeding and reaction cycles, an oleate-rich wastewater was efficiently treated at an organic loading rate of 21 kg COD m−3 day−1 (50 % as oleate), showing a methane recovery of 72 %. In the present work, the archaeal community developed in that reactor is investigated using a 16S rRNA gene approach. This is the first time that methanogens present in a bioreactor converting efficiently high loads of LCFA to methane are monitored. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiling showed that major changes on the archaeal community took place during the bioreactor start-up, where phases of continuous feeding were alternated with batch phases. After the start-up, a stable archaeal community (similarity higher than 84 %) was observed and maintained throughout the continuous operation. This community exhibited high LCFA tolerance and high acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic activity. Cloning and sequencing results showed that Methanobacterium- and Methanosaeta-like microorganisms prevailed in the system and were able to tolerate and endure during prolonged exposure to high LCFA loads, despite the previously reported LCFA sensitivity of methanogens.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been financially supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Programme (COMPETE) and by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the frame of the projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007087 and FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014784. Financial support from FCT and the European Social Fund (ESF) through PhD grants SFRH/BD/48960/2008 and SFRH/BD/24256/2005 attributed to Andreia Salvador and Ana Júlia Cavaleiro is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Andreia F. Salvador, Ana J. Cavaleiro, Diana Z. Sousa, M. Madalena Alves & M. Alcina Pereira

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  1. Andreia F. Salvador
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  2. Ana J. Cavaleiro
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  3. Diana Z. Sousa
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  4. M. Madalena Alves
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  5. M. Alcina Pereira
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Correspondence to M. Madalena Alves.

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Salvador, A.F., Cavaleiro, A.J., Sousa, D.Z. et al. Endurance of methanogenic archaea in anaerobic bioreactors treating oleate-based wastewater. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97, 2211–2218 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4061-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4061-9

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