Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters
Anaerobic digesters host a variety of microorganisms, and they work together to produce biogas. While bacterial and archaeal communities have been well explored using molecular techniques, fungal community structures remain relatively understudied. The present study aims to investigate the dynamics...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Fungi |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/11/1/56 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832588239409512448 |
|---|---|
| author | Linda U. Obi Ashira Roopnarain Memory Tekere Jun Zhou Heng Li Yuanpeng Wang Yanlong Zhang Rasheed A. Adeleke |
| author_facet | Linda U. Obi Ashira Roopnarain Memory Tekere Jun Zhou Heng Li Yuanpeng Wang Yanlong Zhang Rasheed A. Adeleke |
| author_sort | Linda U. Obi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anaerobic digesters host a variety of microorganisms, and they work together to produce biogas. While bacterial and archaeal communities have been well explored using molecular techniques, fungal community structures remain relatively understudied. The present study aims to investigate the dynamics and potential ecological functions of the predominant fungi in bacteria-bioaugmented anaerobic digesters. Eight different anaerobic digesters that contained chopped water hyacinth and cow dung as feedstock at 2% total solids were respectively inoculated with eight different bacterial strains and digested anaerobically in controlled conditions. The diversity and dynamics of the fungal community of the digesters before and after digestion were monitored using high-throughput sequencing of the fungal <i>ITS2</i> sub-region of the ribosomal gene. The functional potential of the fungal community was predicted using ecological guild analysis. The dominant fungal phyla were (with relative abundance ≥1%) Ascomycota and Neocallimastigomycota. Ascomycota exhibited over 90% dominance in all treatments after anaerobic digestion (AD). <i>Aspergillus</i> sp. was consistently dominant across treatments during AD, while prominent anaerobic fungal genera <i>Anaeromyces</i>, <i>Cyllamyces</i>, and <i>Caeomyces</i> decreased. Ecological guild analysis at genus level showed that the majority of the identified fungi were saprophytes, and diversity indices indicated decreased richness and diversity after AD, suggesting a negative impact of AD on fungal communities in the anaerobic digesters. The multivariate structure of the fungal communities showed clustering of treatments with similar fungal taxa. The findings from this study provide insights into the fungal ecological guild of different bacteria-bioaugmented anaerobic digesters, highlighting their potentials in bacteria-augmented systems. Identification of an anaerobic fungal group within the phylum Ascomycota, beyond the well-known fungal phylum Neocallimastigomycota, offers a new perspective in optimizing the AD processes in specialized ecosystems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2840dc61ae844f3a0c1ab04c359dcbb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2309-608X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Fungi |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2840dc61ae844f3a0c1ab04c359dcbb2025-01-24T13:37:23ZengMDPI AGJournal of Fungi2309-608X2025-01-011115610.3390/jof11010056Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic DigestersLinda U. Obi0Ashira Roopnarain1Memory Tekere2Jun Zhou3Heng Li4Yuanpeng Wang5Yanlong Zhang6Rasheed A. Adeleke7Microbiology and Environmental Biotechnology Research Group, Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Agricultural Research Council, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083, South AfricaMicrobiology and Environmental Biotechnology Research Group, Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Agricultural Research Council, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083, South AfricaDepartment of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), P.O. Box 392, Florida 1710, South AfricaBioenergy Research Institute, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, ChinaKey Laboratory of Estuarine Ecological Security and Environmental Health, Tan Kah Kee College, Xiamen University, Zhangzhou 363105, ChinaKey Laboratory for Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, ChinaKey Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystem, College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, ChinaMicrobiology and Environmental Biotechnology Research Group, Institute for Soil, Climate and Water, Agricultural Research Council, Arcadia, Pretoria 0083, South AfricaAnaerobic digesters host a variety of microorganisms, and they work together to produce biogas. While bacterial and archaeal communities have been well explored using molecular techniques, fungal community structures remain relatively understudied. The present study aims to investigate the dynamics and potential ecological functions of the predominant fungi in bacteria-bioaugmented anaerobic digesters. Eight different anaerobic digesters that contained chopped water hyacinth and cow dung as feedstock at 2% total solids were respectively inoculated with eight different bacterial strains and digested anaerobically in controlled conditions. The diversity and dynamics of the fungal community of the digesters before and after digestion were monitored using high-throughput sequencing of the fungal <i>ITS2</i> sub-region of the ribosomal gene. The functional potential of the fungal community was predicted using ecological guild analysis. The dominant fungal phyla were (with relative abundance ≥1%) Ascomycota and Neocallimastigomycota. Ascomycota exhibited over 90% dominance in all treatments after anaerobic digestion (AD). <i>Aspergillus</i> sp. was consistently dominant across treatments during AD, while prominent anaerobic fungal genera <i>Anaeromyces</i>, <i>Cyllamyces</i>, and <i>Caeomyces</i> decreased. Ecological guild analysis at genus level showed that the majority of the identified fungi were saprophytes, and diversity indices indicated decreased richness and diversity after AD, suggesting a negative impact of AD on fungal communities in the anaerobic digesters. The multivariate structure of the fungal communities showed clustering of treatments with similar fungal taxa. The findings from this study provide insights into the fungal ecological guild of different bacteria-bioaugmented anaerobic digesters, highlighting their potentials in bacteria-augmented systems. Identification of an anaerobic fungal group within the phylum Ascomycota, beyond the well-known fungal phylum Neocallimastigomycota, offers a new perspective in optimizing the AD processes in specialized ecosystems.https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/11/1/56fungal microbiomeanaerobic fungibiogas productionhigh-throughput sequencing |
| spellingShingle | Linda U. Obi Ashira Roopnarain Memory Tekere Jun Zhou Heng Li Yuanpeng Wang Yanlong Zhang Rasheed A. Adeleke Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters Journal of Fungi fungal microbiome anaerobic fungi biogas production high-throughput sequencing |
| title | Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters |
| title_full | Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters |
| title_fullStr | Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters |
| title_short | Dynamics and Insights into the Unique Ecological Guild of Fungi in Bacteria-Bioaugmented Anaerobic Digesters |
| title_sort | dynamics and insights into the unique ecological guild of fungi in bacteria bioaugmented anaerobic digesters |
| topic | fungal microbiome anaerobic fungi biogas production high-throughput sequencing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/11/1/56 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lindauobi dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT ashiraroopnarain dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT memorytekere dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT junzhou dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT hengli dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT yuanpengwang dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT yanlongzhang dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters AT rasheedaadeleke dynamicsandinsightsintotheuniqueecologicalguildoffungiinbacteriabioaugmentedanaerobicdigesters |