title: Use of a marine microbial community as inoculum for biomethane production.
abstract: Marine substrates are prominent candidates for the production of biofuels, especially for biogas, which is a well-established technology that accepts different types of substrates for its production. However, the use of marine substrates in bioreactors may cause inhibition of methanogenic bacteria due to the addition of seasalts. Here, we explore a simple and economically viable way to circumvent the problem of inoculum inhibition. Based on the current knowledge of the diversity of microorganisms in marine sediments, we tested the direct use of methanogenic bacteria from an anoxic marine environment as inoculum for biomethane production. Both marine and freshwater substrates were added to this inoculum. No pretreatment (that may have enhanced methane production, but would have made the process more expensive) was applied either to the inoculum or to the substrates. For comparison, the same substrates were added to a standard inoculum (cow manure). Both the marine inoculum and cow manure produced methane by anaerobic digestion of the substrates added. The highest methane production (0.299 m(3) kg VS(-1)) was obtained by adding marine microalgae biomass (Chlorella sp. and Synechococcus sp.) to the marine inoculum. No inhibitory effects were observed due to differences in salinity between the inocula and substrates. Our results indicate the potential of using both marine inoculum and substrates for methane production.
authors.affiliation: a Marine Biotechnology Center , University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Muelle de Taliarte s/n, Gran Canaria 35214 , Spain.
authors.forename: Giovana O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Fistarol
authors.affiliation: a Marine Biotechnology Center , University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Muelle de Taliarte s/n, Gran Canaria 35214 , Spain.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.affiliation: b Marine Biology Department, Institute of Biology , Federal University of Rio de Janeiro , CEP 21941-902, Rio de Janeiro , Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiano L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: c Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção (SAGE) , Federal Universityof Rio de Janeiro , CEP 21941-902, Rio de Janeiro ,  Brazil.
authors.forename: Rogerio de A B
authors.initials: Rde A
authors.lastname: do Valle
authors.affiliation: a Marine Biotechnology Center , University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Muelle de Taliarte s/n, Gran Canaria 35214 , Spain.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garcia-BlairsyReina
authors.affiliation: a Marine Biotechnology Center , University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Muelle de Taliarte s/n, Gran Canaria 35214 , Spain.
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Salomon
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002708:Chlorella; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D046940:Synechococcus
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D008697:Methane
keywords: biogas; biomethane; marine bacteria; methanogenic bacteria; microalgae