Photosynthetic bacteria improved hydrogen yield of combined dark- and photo-fermentation

Integration of dark- and photo-fermentation is a promising strategy to enhance saline wastewater treatment efficiency and biohydrogen production. In this study, dark- and photo-fermentative bacterial consortium was respectively enriched and their communities were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Both consortia were mainly composed of hydrogen-producing strains. After the first-stage dark-fermentation, the following conditions were applied prior to the second-stage fermentation: fermentative broth pH regulation (the pH group), glucose addition (the glucose group), glucose addition and pH regulation (the glucose + pH group), photosynthetic bacteria addition (the photo group), and photosynthetic bacteria addition and pH regulation (the photo + pH group), respectively. Dark fermentative broth with no pretreatment was used as control (the control group). Then the second stage began. The results showed that pH restriction had more influence than substrate or products restriction on dark-fermentative hydrogen production. Addition of photo-fermentative bacteria after dark-fermentation increased the hydrogen yield (134%) and substrate utilization (67%). These findings indicated syntrophic interactions between dark- and photo-fermentative bacteria during the hydrogen production process.