This study seeks to understand how the bacterial communities that develop on biocathodes are influenced by inocula diversity and electrode potential during start-up. Two different inocula are used: one from a highly diverse environment (river mud) and the other from a low diverse milieu (anaerobic digestion). In addition, both inocula were subjected to two different polarising voltages: oxidative (+0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl) and reductive (−0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl).

Bacterial communities were analysed by means of high throughput sequencing. Possible syntrophic interactions and competitions between archaea and eubacteria were described together with a discussion of their potential role in product formation and current production. The results confirmed that reductive potentials lead to an inconsistent start-up procedure regardless of the inoculum used. However, imposing oxidative potentials help to quickly develop an electroactive biofilm ready to withstand reductive potentials (i.e. biocathodic operation). The microbial structure that finally developed on them was highly dependent on the raw community present in the inoculum. Using a non-specialised inoculum resulted in a highly specialised biofilm, which was accompanied by an improved performance in terms of consumed current and product generation. Interestingly, a much more specialised inoculum promoted a rediversification in the biofilm, with a lower general cell performance.

这项研究试图了解在启动过程中，在生物阴极上发育的细菌群落如何受到接种菌多样性和电极电位的影响。使用两种不同的接种物：一种来自高度多样性的环境（河泥），另一种来自低多样性的环境（厌氧消化）。另外，两个接种物均经受两个不同的极化电压：氧化性（+0.2 V，相对于Ag / AgCl）和还原性（-0.8 V，相对于Ag / AgCl）。

通过高通量测序分析细菌群落。描述了古细菌和真细菌之间可能的同养相互作用和竞争，并讨论了它们在产物形成和当前生产中的潜在作用。结果证实，无论使用何种接种物，还原电位均会导致启动程序不一致。但是，施加氧化电势有助于快速形成准备好承受还原电势的电活性生物膜（即，生物阴极操作）。最终在其上形成的微生物结构高度依赖于接种物中存在的原始群落。使用非专业接种物会产生高度专业化的生物膜，并伴随着电流消耗和产品生成方面的改进。