Microbial community dynamics in electroactive biofilms across time under different applied anode potentials

Abstract In bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment systems, electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) in the anode can simultaneously treat wastewater and produce electricity via extracellular electron transfer. The anode potential has been reported as one way for selecting EAB; though, conflicting results of the relationship between applied potentials and the performance and community composition of EAB have been reported. In this study, we investigated the cultivation time and applied anode potentials (+0.2, 0, −0.2, and −0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl) on the performance of current production and the compositions of the microbial community. Our results showed that the applied potentials affected the performance of current production, but the effect was substantially reduced with cultivation time. Particularly, the current gradually increased from negative to positive values with time for the applied anode potential at −0.4 V, implying the anode biofilm shifted from accepting electrons to producing electrons. In addition, principal coordinates analysis results indicated that microbial community compositions became closer to each other after long-term enrichment. Subsequently, principal component analysis demonstrated that systems with applied potentials from +0.2, 0 to −0.2 V and at −0.4 V were, respectively, reclassified into principal component 1 (higher-energy-harvesting group) and principal component 2 (lower-energy-harvesting group), implying in addition to cultivation time, the amount of energy available for bacterial growth is another key factor that influences EAB populations. Overall, this study has demonstrated that the selected cultivation time and the particular anode potentials applied in the study determine whether the applied anode potentials would affect the community and performance of EAB.