Comparison of different pre-treatment methods for enriching hydrogen-producing bacteria from intertidal sludge

Batch tests of cultivations were conducted to analyze influences of pre-treatment methods (heat-shock, acid, and alkaline) on hydrogen production. The hydrogen yields of the pre-treated samples were significantly higher than those without pre-treatment. Heat-shock pre-treatment yielded maximum hydrogen (75.5 +/- 4.0 mL/g sucrose(removed)), and had the highest sucrose removal efficiency (81.20 +/- 1.23%). Heat-shock pre-treatment produced more ethanol and acetate (80.44 +/- 0.55% of the total soluble metabolites), which belonged to ethanol-type fermentation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed that pre-treatment methods affected the composition of microbial communities. The results showed that pre-treatment methods play a key role in the hydrogen production process of marine hydrogen-producing microflora.