Propionate-Oxidizing bacteria in Anaerobic Biowaste Digesters

Propionic acid can be found in many biogas plants. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to determine the number of propionate oxidizing bacteria (POB) in wet anaerobic digestion (WAD) and in dry anaerobic digestion (DAD) reactors In WAD reactors the obligate syntrophic Pelotomaculum sp. played the major role in propionic acid metabolism. In the thermophilic DAD assays high numbers of Desulfotomaculum thermobenzoicum thermosyntrophicum cells could be found with new probe Dtsyn1130.