Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion of Arundo donax cv. Lvzhou No. 1 for Biogas Production: Structure and Functional Analysis of Microbial Communities

• Published in: Bioenergy research Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 866 - 877
• Main Authors: Lei, Yating, Xie, Chao, Wang, Xiaoxi, Fang, Zhiyi, Huang, Ying, Cao, Shilin, Liu, Bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobic microorganisms; Arundo donax; Biodegradation; Biogas; Biomass energy; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cellulose; Cold tolerance; Community structure; Energy crops; Fermentation; Functional analysis; Hemicellulose; Life Sciences; Lignin; Methane; Microbial activity; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Next-generation sequencing; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Plant Ecology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Sciences; Production processes; Refuse as fuel; RNA; rRNA 16S; Structure-function relationships; Thermophilic microorganisms; Wood Science & Technology; cv. Lvzhou No. 1; Thermophilic anaerobic digestion; Biogas production; Volatile fatty acids; Lignocellulosic
• ISSN: 1939-1234; 1939-1242
• DOI: 10.1007/s12155-020-10105-y

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) is an efficient method for biogas production. In this study, the TAD of Arundo donax cv. Lvzhou No. 1 (ADL-1, a new kind of energy crop with high cold tolerance) at different growth stages was carried out, in order to investigate the relationship between microbial community structure and its function during the fermentation process. The results showed that the most optimal growth period of ADL-1 was 3 months, regarding the yield of biogas production. The TAD process lasted for 10 days with cumulative biogas and methane yields of 312.7 mL/g VS and 231 mL/g VS, respectively. The degradation rates of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin were 41.78%, 27.99%, and 14.46%, respectively. The high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed that the most abundant bacterial phylum in TAD was Firmicutes with three dominant genera of Tepidiphilus , Sedimentibacter , and Gelria . Also, the main archaeal order was Methanomicrobiales , in which Methanoculleus and Methanosarcina were detected as dominant genera. Therefore, this article reveals the dynamic changes of structure and function of microbial communities during TAD of ADL-1, providing the theoretical basis for the development of energy crops with cold tolerance as potential biogas feedstock.