Molecular diversity of mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria in a membrane bioreactor determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization with mxaF- and rRNA-targeted probes

An evaluation of the efficiency of treatment of kraft mill foul condensates in a membrane bioreactor was carried out in the laboratory. Efficiency and rate of methanol removal were quantified at operating temperatures of 35, 45 and 55 °C. The structure of the bacterial community present in the reactor biomass at the different operating temperatures was evaluated by in situ hybridization of the biomass samples with fluorescently‐labelled probes (FISH) targeting the Eubacteria, the alpha, beta and gamma subclasses of the Proteobacteria, the low G + C content Gram‐positive bacteria (Bacillus spp.), while community function was evaluated by in situ hybridization with a methanol dehydrogenase gene (mxaF) probe. Methanol removal efficiency decreased from 99.4 to 92%, and removal rate from 2.69 mg MeOH/l × min to 2.49 mg MeOH/l × min when the operating temperature was increased from 35 to 55 °C. This decrease in methanol removal was accompanied by a decrease (from 58% to 42%) in the relative proportion of cells that hybridized with the mxaF probe. The relative proportion of Bacillus spp. increased from 5 to 20% while the proportion of members of the alpha subclass of Proteobacteria decreased from 16% to 6% when the bioreactor operating temperature was raised from 35 to 55 °C. The relative proportions of bacteria belonging to the beta (22–25%) and gamma (18–20%) subclasses of the Proteobacteria remained relatively constant regardless of operating temperature. Proteobacteria (alpha, beta and gamma subclasses) and Bacillus spp. represented 61, 67 and 71% of the Eubacteria in the biomass sampled at 35, 45 and 55 °C, respectively. The FISH technique was shown to be an efficient method for detection of both structural and functional changes in the bacterial communities that could be related to efficiency of methanol removal in a membrane bioreactor operating at different temperatures.