Towards the definition of a core of microorganisms involved in anaerobic digestion of sludge

The microbial consortium involved in anaerobic digestion has not yet been precisely characterized and this process remains a 'black box' with limited efficiency. In this study, seven anaerobic sludge digesters were selected based on technology, type of sludge, process and water quality. The prokaryotic community of these digesters was examined by constructing and analysing a total of 9890 16S rRNA gene clones. Libraries were constructed using primers specific for the Bacteria and Archaea domains for each digester, respectively. After phylogenetic affiliation, the libraries were compared using statistical tools to determine the similarities or differences among the seven digesters. Results show that the prokaryotic community of an anaerobic digester is composed of phylotypes commonly found in all anaerobic digesters sampled and also of specific phylotypes. The Archaea community is represented by an equilibrium among a restricted number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs). These OTUs are affiliated with Methanosarcinales, Methanomicrobiales and Arc I phylogenetic groups. Statistical analysis revealed that the Bacteria community can be described as a three component model: one-third making up a core group of phylotypes common to most of the digesters, one-third are phylotypes shared among a few digesters and another one-third are specific phylotypes. The core group is composed of only six OTUs affiliated with Chloroflexi, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes. Its role in anaerobic degradation appears critical to investigate. This comparison of anaerobic digester populations is a first step towards a future understanding of the relationship among biodiversity, operating conditions and digester efficiency.