Dynamics of Methangens During Steady-State of Anaerobic Baffled Reactor Using Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism

To investigate the physiological and ecological characteristics of methangens in the steady-state of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), a laboratory-scale ABR with seven compartments was operated with molasses wastewater as substrate. Chemical analyses were done to evaluate digester performance. In parallel, Archael community dynamics were monitored by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis targeting the V3~V5 region of 16S rRNA genes and further characterized by partial sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The result showed obviously niche separation between the acidogenic phase (1^st to 4^th compartments) and the methanogenic phase (5^th to 7^th compartments). The acidogenic phase obtained richer diversity and the dominant genus up to 15 OTUs, among which, Methanobacterium and Methanosarcina were dominant genera. At the same time, in the methanogenic phase, the dominant status of Methanobacterium was replaced by Methano- genium and some new Methanosarcina sp. that can utilize acetate as substrate, and the dominant genus reduced to 8 OTUs. 95% sequenced bands belong to three genera, i.e., Methanobacterium, 53%; Methanosarcina, 24%; Methanogenium, 18%.