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Background: For the production of carboxylic acid platform chemicals like medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) by anaerobic fermentation, pH control is required. However, adding buffer solutions is ineffective in leach-bed reactors., Aim: In order to increase the MCFA production by maize silage fermentation and to engineer the process we investigated the effect of solid alkaline iron and manganese additives on the process performance and microbial community dynamics., Results: Without additives, the pH dropped to 3.9 and lactic acid bacteria were favored. Total product yields of 207 ± 5.4 g organic acids (C 2 -C 6 ) and alcohols per kg volatile solids were reached. The addition of trace elements increased the pH value and the product spectrum and yields changed. With a commercial iron additive, the product yields were higher (293 ± 15.2 g/kg volatile solids ) and supposedly clostridia used lactic acid for microbial chain elongation of acetic acid producing n -butyric acid. With the addition of pure Fe(OH) 3 or Mn(OH) 2 , the total product yields were lower than in the other reactors. However, increased production of MCFA and the occurrence of distinct bacterial taxa ( Lachnospiraceae , Ruminococcaceae and Megasphaera ) related to this metabolic function were observed., Conclusions: The application of alkaline trace metal additives as pH stabilizing agents can mitigate spatial metabolic heterogeneities when trace metal deficient substrates like specific crops or residues thereof are applied., (© 2018 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We present a simple protocol for the cost- and time-efficient profiling of methanogens based on T-RFLP fingerprinting of mcrA amplicons. Sequence data were compiled from mesophilic lab-scale and full-scale biogas reactors operated under various conditions and fed with various substrates. The database facilitates the rapid identification of methanogens, thus reducing the need of cloning and sequencing., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The potential of two alkali-tolerant, lignocellulolytic environmental enrichment cultures to improve the anaerobic fermentation of Ca(OH)₂-pre-treated wheat straw was studied. The biomethane potential of pre-treated straw was 36% higher than that of untreated straw. The bioaugmentation of pre-treated straw with the enrichment cultures did not enhance the methane yield, but accelerated the methane production during the first week. In acidogenic leach-bed fermenters, a 61% higher volatile fatty acid (VFA) production and a 112% higher gas production, mainly CO₂, were observed when pre-treated instead of untreated straw was used. With one of the two enrichment cultures as the inoculum, instead of the standard inoculum, the VFA production increased by an additional 36% and the gas production by an additional 110%, again mainly CO₂. Analysis of the microbial communities in the leach-bed processes revealed similar bacterial compositions in the fermenters with pre-treated straw, which developed independently of the used inoculum. It was suggested that the positive metabolic effects with the enrichment cultures observed in both systems were due to initial activities of the alkali-tolerant microorganisms tackling the alkaline conditions better than the standard inocula, whereas the latter dominated in the long term.

Serial repitching of brewing yeast inoculates is an important economic factor in the brewing industry, as their propagation is time and resource intensive. Here, we investigated whether replicative aging and/or the population distribution status changed during serial repitching in three different breweries with the same brewing yeast strain but different abiotic backgrounds and repitching regimes with varying numbers of reuses. Next to bud scar numbers the DNA content of the Saccharomyces pastorianus HEBRU cells was analyzed. Gene expression patterns were investigated using low-density microarrays with genes for aging, stress, storage compound metabolism and cell cycle. Two breweries showed a stable rejuvenation rate during serial repitching. In a third brewery the fraction of virgin cells varied, which could be explained with differing wort aeration rates. Furthermore, the number of bud scars per cell and cell size correlated in all 3 breweries throughout all runs. Transcriptome analyses revealed that from the 6th run on, mainly for the cells positive gene expression could be seen, for example up-regulation of trehalose and glycogen metabolism genes. Additionally, the cells' settling in the cone was dependent on cell size, with the lowest and the uppermost cone layers showing the highest amount of dead cells. In general, cells do not progressively age during extended serial repitching., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus strains driving brewing fermentation processes are usually reused several times. It is still unclear, whether the number of successions may have an impact on cell physiology prompting consequences for brewing quality. In this study, fermentation performance of up to twenty consecutive runs in a brewery was investigated. For each run mRNA expression levels of cellular marker molecules, which are known to correlate with metabolism, hexose transport, aging processes, stress response mechanisms and flocculation capability was estimated to obtain information on changes in cell physiology over the successive runs. Low-density microarrays were used for this purpose and the resulting gene expression profiles were finally correlated with changes in the abiotic micro-environments. A surprising stability of the marker molecule expression profiles within each specific serial repitching was stated. Loss of flocculation or an advanced aging could not be detected during serial repitching in the analyzed brewery. However, certain runs of the serial repitchings showed high variation in stress response which was found to be caused by perturbations of the abiotic conditions. Regardless, the study showed that S. pastorianus can be used repeatedly in serial repitching processes without loss of prominent physiological characteristics., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)