2022 Volume 45 Issue 3 Pages 91-105
Intensive research on molecular microbiological methods has accelerated the development of cutting-edge technologies, e.g., a high-throughput sequencer, microscopy, and mass spectrometry, at a surprisingly fast pace. The development of these technologies has allowed researchers, whose expertise does not lie in environmental microbiology and microbial ecology, to elucidate the functions and activities of microbial communities in engineered systems. Expanding knowledge on microbial communities has paved the way for discovering novel microorganisms and their unique metabolic traits that can potentially be harnessed in engineered systems. The present literature review introduces state-of-the-art high-resolution microbiological methods to observe genes, cells, microbial activities, and metabolites applicable to natural and engineered ecosystems. In addition, the latest findings on microbial ecophysiologies, guided by the application of these methods, and future perspectives toward innovations for water and wastewater treatment bioreactors are summarized.
