Syntrophy in biogas: the key relationship between bacteria and archaea
Syntrophy is the mutually dependent relationship between acetogenic bacteria and methanogenic archaea that makes anaerobic digestion possible. The bacteria can only degrade fatty acids (such as propionic acid) if the archaea remove the hydrogen they produce; if H₂ builds up, the reaction becomes thermodynamically impossible and the process blocks. Propionic acid is the key indicator […]