ABSTRACT
A biotrickling filter (BTF) operating at ambient pressure and temperature was used to enrich microorganisms from a deep sea anaerobic methane oxidizing sediment. Different sulfur compounds namely, sulfate, elemental sulfur and thiosulfate were used as electron acceptors to understand their effects on the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), sulfate reduction (SR) rates and the microbial community distribution. The highest AOM and SR rates were obtained in the BTF fed with thiosulfate as the electron acceptor. C. Cassarini et al. operated a biotrickling filter (BTF) for 213 days with the sediment collected from the Alpha Mound as inoculum and showed AOM coupled to thiosulfate reduction. The BTF was operated at ambient conditions, using porous polyurethane foam as the packing material. AOM coupled to SR is a process mediated by anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME) and sulfate reducing bacteria. ANME are grouped into three distinct clades, i.e. ANME-1, ANME-2 and ANME-3, respectively.
