title: MiDAS: the field guide to the microbes of activated sludge.
abstract: The Microbial Database for Activated Sludge (MiDAS) field guide is a freely available online resource linking the identity of abundant and process critical microorganisms in activated sludge wastewater treatment systems to available data related to their functional importance. Phenotypic properties of some of these genera are described, but most are known only from sequence data. The MiDAS taxonomy is a manual curation of the SILVA taxonomy that proposes a name for all genus-level taxa observed to be abundant by large-scale 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of full-scale activated sludge communities. The taxonomy can be used to classify unknown sequences, and the online MiDAS field guide links the identity to the available information about their morphology, diversity, physiology and distribution. The use of a common taxonomy across the field will provide a solid foundation for the study of microbial ecology of the activated sludge process and related treatment processes. The online MiDAS field guide is a collaborative workspace intended to facilitate a better understanding of the ecology of activated sludge and related treatment processes--knowledge that will be an invaluable resource for the optimal design and operation of these systems.
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Simon Jon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: McIlroy
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Aaron Marc
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albertsen
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nierychlo
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McIlroy
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Aviaja Anna
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Søren Michael
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Karst
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeppe Lund
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark phn@bio.aau.dk.
authors.forename: Per Halkjær
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage