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Endogenous quorum sensing orchestrates microbial social behaviors for anaerobic digestion adaptation to temperature reduction
Summary
Quorum sensing molecules (AHLs and AI-2) regulate extracellular polymeric substance production and microbial community adhesion in anaerobic digesters, enabling microbes to adapt methanogenic pathways during temperature drops. This mechanistic insight into biofilm stability under stress is relevant to plastic-degrading microbial consortia, where community cohesion and metabolic coordination drive the breakdown of plastic polymers in low-temperature environments.
Quorum sensing molecules, especially AHLs and AI-2, played a crucial role in regulating microbial social behaviors and EPS production under temperature stress. Moreover, These QS changes coincide with a shift from acetoclastic to hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and with EPS composition adjustments (PN/PS changes), suggesting that QS promotes low-temperature adaptation by regulating EPS secretion and community adhesion, thereby stabilizing granule structure and maintaining metabolic syntrophy and methanogenesis. These findings enhance our understanding of temperature effects on anaerobic systems and provide a basis for optimizing psychrophilic anaerobic processes, addressing the need for energy-efficient wastewater treatment in colder climates.