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The close relation between Lactococcus and Methanosaeta is a keystone for stable methane production from molasses wastewater in a UASB reactor

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

The up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor is a promising method for the treatment of high-strength industrial wastewaters due to advantage of its high treatment capacity and settleable suspended biomass retention. Molasses wastewater as a sugar-rich waste is one of the most valuable raw material for bioenergy production due to its high organic strength and bioavailability. Interpretation for complex interactions of microbial community structures and operational parameters can help to establish stable biogas production. RNA-based approach for biogas production systems is recommended for analysis of functionally active community members which are significantly underestimated. In this study, methane production and active microbial community were characterized in an UASB reactor using molasses wastewater as feedstock. The UASB reactor achieved a stable process performance at an organic loading rate of 1.7~13.8-g chemical oxygen demand (COD,·L−1 day−1; 87–95 % COD removal efficiencies), and the maximum methane production rate was 4.01 L-CH4·at 13.8 g-COD L−1 day−1. Lactococcus and Methanosaeta were comprised up to 84 and 80 % of the active bacterial and archaeal communities, respectively. Network analysis of reactor performance and microbial community revealed that Lactococcus and Methanosaeta were network hub nodes and positively correlated each other. In addition, they were positively correlated with methane production and organic loading rate, and they shared the other microbial hub nodes as neighbors. The results indicate that the close association between Lactococcus and Methanosaeta is responsible for the stable production of methane in the UASB reactor using molasses wastewater.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning (NRF-2012R1A2A2A03046724).

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-750, Republic of Korea

    Tae Gwan Kim, Jeonghee Yun & Kyung-Suk Cho

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  1. Tae Gwan Kim
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  2. Jeonghee Yun
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  3. Kyung-Suk Cho
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Correspondence to Kyung-Suk Cho.

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Kim, T.G., Yun, J. & Cho, KS. The close relation between Lactococcus and Methanosaeta is a keystone for stable methane production from molasses wastewater in a UASB reactor. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 8271–8283 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6725-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6725-8

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