Wetsus sulfur scientists Suyash Gupta, Caroline Plugge (WUR), Jan Klok, and Gerard Muyzer from the University of Amsterdam identified the major bacterial communities that live inside haloalkaline bioreactors from several industries.
By sequencing the 16S ribosomal RNA from biomass derived from ten different reactors, the researchers were able to map out the composition of bacteria in said installations. They found out that the source, as well as the contaminants, that enter the system are major determiners of the ecosystems found therein. It was found that all the reactor systems share a common set of bacteria which play important role in the functioning of systems. The researchers were able to describe the microbes’ roles and relations, both on a substrate and phylogenetic level.
The detailed description of sulfur bioreactors allows for even more focused studies on the plants. This can for instance be achieved by analysing the bacterial communities, like a set of sensors to determine the effectiveness of the reactor and increase the efficiency.
Gupta, S., Plugge, C. M., Klok, J. B. M., & Muyzer, G. (2022). Comparative analysis of microbial communities from different full-scale haloalkaline biodesulfurization systems. In Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-11771-y