Inhibition by ammonium at concentrations above 1000 mgN/L is known to harm the methanogenesis phase of anaerobic digestion. We anaerobically digested swine waste and achieved steady state COD-removal efficiency of around 52% with no fatty-acid or H[subscript 2] accumulation. As the anaerobic microbial community adapted to the gradual increase of total ammonia-N (NH[subscript 3]-N) from 890 ± 295 to 2040 ± 30 mg/L, the Bacterial and Archaeal communities became less diverse. Phylotypes most closely related to hydrogenotrophic Methanoculleus (36.4%) and Methanobrevibacter (11.6%), along with acetoclastic Methanosaeta (29.3%), became the most abundant Archaeal sequences during acclimation. This was accompanied by a sharp increase in the relative abundances of phylotypes most closely related to acetogens and fatty-acid producers (Clostridium, Coprococcus, and Sphaerochaeta) and syntrophic fatty-acid Bacteria (Syntrophomonas, Clostridium, Clostridiaceae species, and Cloacamonaceae species) that have metabolic capabilities for butyrate and propionate fermentation, as well as for reverse acetogenesis. Our results provide evidence countering a prevailing theory that acetoclastic methanogens are selectively inhibited when the total ammonia-N concentration is greater than ~1000 mgN/L. Instead, acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens coexisted in the presence of total ammonia-N of ~2000 mgN/L by establishing syntrophic relationships with fatty-acid fermenters, as well as homoacetogens able to carry out forward and reverse acetogenesis.
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- Archaea and Bacteria Acclimate to High Total Ammonia in a Methanogenic Reactor Treating Swine Waste
- Esquivel Elizondo, Sofia (Author)
- Parameswaran, Prathap (Author)
- Delgado, Anca (Author)
- Maldonado, Juan (Author)
- Rittmann, Bruce (Author)
- Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Author)
- Biodesign Institute (Contributor)
- Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology (Contributor)
- Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (Contributor)
- School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment (Contributor)
- Digital object identifier: 10.1155/2016/4089684
- Identifier TypeInternational standard serial numberIdentifier Value1472-3646
- Identifier TypeInternational standard serial numberIdentifier Value1472-3654
- The article is published at https://www.hindawi.com/journals/archaea/2016/4089684/
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Esquivel-Elizondo, S., Parameswaran, P., Delgado, A. G., Maldonado, J., Rittmann, B. E., & Krajmalnik-Brown, R. (2016). Archaea and Bacteria Acclimate to High Total Ammonia in a Methanogenic Reactor Treating Swine Waste. Archaea, 2016, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2016/4089684