Investigating the structure and function of the microbiome underpinning anaerobic digestion for resource recovery from carbon-rich, nutrient-rich ferm

我们的目标是通过研究不同操作参数下微生物群的结构和功能，最大限度地利用厌氧消化(AD)从富碳、营养丰富的发酵废水中回收资源。我们将首先将Quorn(TM)提供的样品的物理化学组成描述为具有代表性的发酵废水。我们将测量化学需氧量、总氮、亚硝酸盐、硝酸盐、铵、硫酸盐、磷酸盐、总固体和挥发性固体、蛋白质浓度、氨基酸含量、糖和糖醇含量以及pH值。然后，我们的目标是通过进行生物甲烷潜力测试来评估生物降解性，测量实验沼气产量与理论沼气产量。为此，我们将使用AD 1L半连续间歇反应器，接种来自英国的食物垃圾处理厂。我们将通过测量沼气组成(甲烷：二氧化碳)、pH和挥发性脂肪酸含量来评估一般反应器的功能和稳定性。为了深入了解支撑AD反应的核心微生物群落的结构和功能的作用，我们将运行连续处理反应器(CSTR)和元基因组方法。我们将使用两个不同的案例研究来实现我们的目标：1)单级5L CSTR反应器以提高有机负荷(OLR)运行，以深入了解支撑Quorn发酵废水AD的核心微生物群的稳定性、功能和结构。这也将使人们深入了解微生物组对压力条件的适应，并确定最佳的OLR。2)两级CSTR反应器，深入了解支持AD发酵和产甲烷阶段的微生物群的官能团。反应堆的性能、稳定性和微生物组洞察力将与单个阶段进行比较，以确定每个阶段的潜在功能物种。然后，我们将使用泛基因组学方法来研究案例研究中确定的关键物种的功能。

We aim to maximise resource recovery from carbon-rich, nutrient-rich fermentation wastewater using anaerobic digestion (AD) by investigating microbiome structure and function under different operational parameters. We will first characterise the physicochemical composition of samples provided from Quorn(TM) as a representative fermentation wastewater. We will measure chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, nitrites, nitrates, ammonium, sulfate, phosphates, total and volatile solids, protein concentration, amino acid content, sugar and sugar alcohol content, and pH. We then aim to assess biodegradability by conducting biomethane potential tests, measuring experimental biogas production against theoretical biogas production. To do so, we will use AD 1L semi-continuous batch reactors with inoculum obtained from a UK-based food waste plant. We will assess general reactor functionality and stability by measuring biogas composition (methane: carbon dioxide) pH, and volatile fatty acid content.To gain insight into the role of structure and function of the core microbial community underpinning AD reactions we will operate continuous treatment reactors (CSTR) paired with a metagenomic approach. We will use two different case studies to address our aims:1) Single stage 5L CSTR reactors operating at increasing organic loading rates (OLR) to gain insight into the core microbiome's stability, function and structure underpinning the AD of Quorn fermentation wastewater. This will also give insight into microbiome adaptation to stress conditions and identify optimum OLR. 2) 2-stage CSTR reactors to gain insight into the functional groups of the microbiome underpinning the fermentation and methanogenesis phases of AD. Reactor performance, stability and microbiome insights will be compared to single stage to identify potential functional species within each stage. We will then use a pangenomic approach to investigate functionality of key species identified in the case studies.