Effect of operating temperatures on the microbial community profiles in a high cell density hybrid anaerobic bioreactor

Lack of knowledge about the microbial consortia involved in wastewater treatment at different operating temperatures, is a major reason for failure of anaerobic reactors in field applications. Present study was undertaken to correlate performance of hybrid anaerobic reactors operating at different temperatures (37, 45 and 55 °C) to structures of archaeal and bacterial communities involved. Self-immobilized granules were developed in the reactors continuously fed with synthetic wastewater (10,000 mg COD l−1) and operated at an organic loading rate of 2.22 kg COD m−3 day−1 and hydraulic retention time of 5 days. The reactor operated at 37 °C showed the best performance as well as the most diverse microbial community revealed by PCR–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis using 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Sequences derived from reactors operating at higher temperatures revealed presence of different methanogens, but lesser diversity caused a drop in COD degradation capability of the system indicating successful operation at low loading conditions.