Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been applied for decades to convert various wastes into potential renewable energy resource. Recently, seaweed has attracted attention as substrate for the AD due to a large amount of carbohydrate, less/no lignin and no requirement of agricultural land. The efficiency and stability of AD, to a large extend, depend on the microbial communities and their metabolic activities in anaerobic digesters. However, the microbial community and dynamics during the AD process utilizing seaweed as substrate remains poorly understood. The overall objective of this review was to describe the microbial communities during the AD, especially the one that fed with seaweeds and operated under different temperatures. The seventh order of methanogens (Methanomassiliccoccales) which recently discovered from various anaerobic environments including Anaerobic Digester (AD) was also discussed. The overall results of this study broaden our understanding of microbial composition and succession in the AD process, which is required for improvement of the AD utilizing seaweed.

Anaerobic digestion, Methanomassiliccoccales, Microbial Community, Seaweeds