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Disturbance intensity shapes universal and context-dependent functional traits in anaerobic microbiomes
Abeed F Mohidin1,2, Soheil A Neshat1, Ezequiel Santillan1
1Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637551, Singapore.
Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
|July 12, 2026
Summary
Microbial communities in anaerobic digesters adapt predictable strategies to survive environmental stress and disturbance. This research provides a gene-level understanding to enhance microbiome resilience in waste-to-energy systems.
Area of Science:
- Microbial Ecology
- Environmental Microbiology
- Ecological Stoichiometry
Background:
- Trait-based frameworks predict community structure but struggle with extreme stress/disturbance.
- Engineered microbiomes, crucial for waste-to-energy, require better predictive models for resilience.
- Existing models fail to account for microbial adaptation under compounded operational pressures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To extend ecological frameworks to predict microbial life-history strategies in anaerobic digesters under stress.
- To identify specific microbial traits and genes associated with resilience under disturbance.
- To establish a gene-resolved framework for engineering microbiome resilience.
Main Methods:
- Investigated anaerobic digester microbiomes over a 182-day gradient of biomass turnover and organic loading.
- Analyzed microbial community shifts and associated gene expression under varying disturbance levels.
- Conducted cross-system comparisons with activated sludge and soil ecosystems.
Main Results:
- Disturbance shifted microbiomes towards stress-tolerant and stress-tolerant-ruderal strategies, marked by volatile fatty acid accumulation.
- Enriched traits included ribosome function, chaperones, and oxidative stress detoxification under high disturbance.
- Ruderal strategies dominated intermediate regimes, reducing chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency.
Conclusions:
- Anaerobic digester microbiomes exhibit predictable, trait-based responses to compounded environmental pressures.
- Survival traits (cell maintenance, repair, motility) are universally important, while metabolic traits are context-dependent.
- This gene-resolved framework aids in engineering resilient microbiomes for waste-to-energy applications.
Keywords:
Anaerobic digestionCommunity structureDisturbance intensityGrime's CSR life-history strategiesMetagenome-assembled genomesStressTrait-based approachMore Related Videos
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