As a result of a collaboration with the research team of Dr. F. Javier Gutiérrez-Mañero and Dr. José Antonio Lucas García (Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid), we have recently published, in Journal of Water and Health, a study on the functional diversity and dynamics of bacterial communities in a membrane bioreactor fed with activated sludge and metal-working fluids. Since this is not one of our main topics of research, we have learned a great deal about bacterial community dynamics in membrane bioreactors used for the treatment of contaminated wastewater.
In our study, culture-independent (16S rRNA analysis) showed that Betaproteobacteria was the most frequently detected class in the membrane bioreactor community with Zoogloea and Acidovorax as dominant genera. Interestingly, longitudinal structural shifts were more marked for non-culturable than for culturable bacteria, pointing towards an important role in the membrane reactor performance.
