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Fungi open new possibilities for anaerobic fermentation of organic residues

M. Kazda,Susanne G Langer,F. Bengelsdorf

Published 2014 in Energy, Sustainability and Society

ABSTRACT

BackgroundLarge amounts of fibre-rich organic waste material from public green and private gardens have to be treated environmentally friendly; however, this fibre-rich biomass has low biogas yields. This study investigated the presence of fungi in full-scale biogas plants as well as in laboratory reactors and elucidated the importance of fungi for the biogas process.MethodsThe dominating members of the eukaryotic community were identified by analyzing 18S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region fragments of clone libraries. These identifications were accompanied by diverse microscopic techniques such as fluorescence microscopy and conventional scanning electron microscopy.ResultsCells of presumably fungal origin were characterized by intensive fluorescence and were about 1 order of magnitude larger than prokaryotic cells. Molecular techniques enabled to identify fungi from the subphyla Agaricomycotina, Mucoromycotina, Pezizomycotina, Pucciniomycotina and Saccharomycotina and from the class Neocallimastigomycetes. Members of these groups can be important for microbial degradation of complex compounds, due to the ability to penetrate cell walls, and thus open the cells for the influx of bacteria, further enhancing degradation.ConclusionsOptimal treatment of biowaste depends on the amount of lignocelluloses. Targeted application of fungi to the biogas process will open wider possibilities for anaerobic treatment of fibre-rich biomass and can result in better biomass utilization as a renewable energy resource. Due to higher temperature optima of fungal cellulolytic enzymes, the thermophilic process is suggested for anaerobic degradation of fibre-rich biomass.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2014

  • Venue

    Energy, Sustainability and Society

  • Publication date

    2014-03-13

  • Fields of study

    Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1186/2192-0567-4-6
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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