Combinatorics

Enzyme

Topology (electrical circuits)

Methanogenesis

Mathematics

Bacteria

Mesophile

Abundance (ecology)

Microbial population biology

Biology

Hydrolysis

Statistics

Betweenness centrality

Relative species abundance

Ecology

Centrality

Thermophile

Methane

Genetics

Biochemistry

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Operational factors and microbial interactions affect the ecology in anaerobic digestion systems. From 12 lab-scale reactors operated under distinct engineering conditions, bacterial communities were found driven by temperature, while archaeal communities by both temperature and substrate properties. Combining the bacterial and archaeal community clustering patterns led to five sample groups (ambient, mesophilic low-solid-substrate, mesophilic, mesophilic co-digestion and thermophilic) for co-occurrence network analysis. Network topological properties were associated with substrate characteristics and hydrolysis-methanogenesis balance. The hydrolysis efficiency correlated ( p &lt; 0.05) with clustering coefficient positively and with normalized betweenness negatively. The influent particulate COD ratio and the relative differential hydrolysis-methanogenesis efficiency ( D efficiency ) correlated negatively with the average path length ( p &lt; 0.05). Individual genera’s topological properties showed more connector genera in thermophilic network, representing stronger inter-module communication. Individual genera’s normalized degree and betweenness revealed that lower-abundance genera (as low as 0.1%) could perform central hub roles and communication roles, maintaining the stability and functionality of the microbial community.

Microbial co-occurrence network topological properties link with reactor parameters and reveal importance of low-abundance genera