Study Of The Active Bacterial Community In Two Membrane Bioreactors

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems allow for the separation of mixed liquor and treated water thanks to membranes. Bacterial communities in MBRs can be quite different from conventional ones due to the long retention time and, therefore, the low metabolic cellular activity. Moreover, MBRs have better treated water quality, are able to operate with high biomass concentrations and their effluent is of great quality and can be recirculated. An extensive research on the bacterial communities in these systems is essential to achieve a good treatment performance.

In this work, bacterial communities from two MBR systems treating leachates were evaluated using the 16S rRNA metagenomics approach, with and without a viability dye (Propidium Monoazide, PMA).