title: Potential enhancement of direct interspecies electron transfer for syntrophic metabolism of propionate and butyrate with biochar in up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors.
abstract: Promoting direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) to enhance syntrophic metabolism may be a strategy for accelerating the conversion of organic wastes to methane, but microorganisms capable of metabolizing propionate and butyrate via DIET under methanogenic conditions have yet to be identified. In an attempt to establish methanogenic communities metabolizing propionate or butyrate with DIET, enrichments were initiated with up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), similar to those that were previously reported to support communities that metabolized ethanol with DIET that relied on direct biological electrical connections. In the absence of any amendments, microbial communities enriched were dominated by microorganisms closely related to pure cultures that are known to metabolize propionate or butyrate to acetate with production of H2. When biochar was added to the reactors there was a substantial enrichment on the biochar surface of 16S rRNA gene sequences closely related to Geobacter and Methanosaeta species known to participate in DIET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA; Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA; Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China. Electronic address: zhangyb@dlut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yaobin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA; Physical and Biological Sciences, Western New England University, Springfield, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Dawn E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA; Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, Beijing Forestry University, 35 Tsinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA.
authors.forename: Trevor L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Woodard
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Nevin
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9298, USA.
authors.forename: Derek R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lovley
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D020148:Butyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D002606:Charcoal; D004579:Electron Transport; D045302:Geobacter / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011422:Propionates / Q000378:metabolism*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D011422:Propionates; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage; C540010:biochar; D020148:Butyric Acid; D002606:Charcoal; D008697:Methane
keywords: Biochar; Direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET); Syntrophic metabolism of propionate and butyrate; Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)