Bacterial community structure and predicted function in an acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor: Effect of organic carbon to sulfate ratios

[Display omitted] •Acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor was used for high influent sulfate content.•Microbial community structure and bacterial connections network were analyzed.•Desulfovibrio was the most predominant SRB in acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor.•Sulfate reduction functional genes and pathway were predicted by PICRUSt. A lab-scale acidogenic sulfate-reducing reactor with N2 stripping was continuously operated to uncover its microbial mechanism treating highly sulfate-containing organic wastewaters. Results showed that sulfate reduction efficiency decreased with the influent COD/sulfate ratios. Microbial community analysis showed that VFA accumulation mainly caused by the predominance of fermentative bacteria including Streptococcus and Oceanotoga. Genus Desulfovibrio was the most predominant SRB and enriched at low influent COD/sulfate ratios. Although Bifidobacterium, Atopobium, Wohlfahrtiimonas, Dysgonomonas etc. had low average abundance, they were identified keystone genera by the co-occurrence network analysis. The functions of the microbial community were not insignificantly influenced by COD/sulfate ratios. All predicted functional genes involved in dissimilatory sulfate reduction reached their maximum abundances at influent COD/sulfate ratio of 1.5, while the assimilatory sulfate reduction was favored at the COD/sulfate ratio lower than 2.