Intermittent fasting for microbes: how discontinuous feeding increases functional stability in anaerobic digestion

Abstract

The composition of the microbial community determined the AD functional resilience against organic overloading in our experiments. In particular, communities with higher share of <i>Methanosarcina</i> showed higher process stability. The share of these microorganisms can be purposefully increased by discontinuous feeding. A model was developed that enables derivation of the necessary feeding regime for a more robust community with higher share of <i>Methanosarcina</i>.