Biofilm development during the start‐up period of anaerobic biofilm reactors: the biofilm Archaea community is highly dependent on the support material

• Published in: Microbial biotechnology 2014-05, Vol.7 (3), p.257-264
• Main Authors: Habouzit, Frédéric, Hamelin, Jérôme, Santa‐Catalina, Gaëlle, Steyer, Jean‐P., Bernet, Nicolas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaerobiosis; Archaea; Archaea - classification; Archaea - genetics; Archaea - physiology; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Biofilms - growth & development; Bioreactors - microbiology; Biota; Electrophoresis, Capillary; Environmental Microbiology; Environmental Sciences; Life Sciences; Methane - metabolism; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational
• ISSN: 1751-7915; 1751-7915
• DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12115

Summary To evaluate the impact of the nature of the support material on its colonization by a methanogenic consortium, four substrata made of different materials: polyvinyl chloride, 2 polyethylene and polypropylene were tested during the start‐up of lab‐scale fixed‐film reactors. The reactor performances were evaluated and compared together with the analysis of the biofilms. Biofilm growth was quantified and the structure of bacterial and archaeal communities were characterized by molecular fingerprinting profiles (capillary electrophoresis‐single strand conformation polymorphism). The composition of the inoculum was shown to have a major impact on the bacterial composition of the biofilm, whatever the nature of the support material or the organic loading rate applied to the reactors during the start‐up period. In contrast, the biofilm archaeal populations were independent of the inoculum used but highly dependent on the support material. Supports favouring Archaea colonization, the limiting factor in the overall process, should be preferred. The nature of the support material clearly determines the structure of the Archaea community in the biofilm. The nature of the support material impacts the development of the anaerobic biofilm and consequently, the start‐up of methanogenic biofilm reactors. The methane yield is a relevant parameter for monitoring the start‐up of methanogenic biofilm reactors.