Fig. 4

Bacterial and archaeal community structure dynamic over time as assessed by 16S rRNA gene-based T-RFLP analysis. P0–P5 are the six sampling periods chosen for microbial community monitoring; CR is the cautiously fed reactor; R1, R2 and R3 are the reactors exposed to increasing organic loading rate; T-RFs are characterized by their length in base pairs (bp); the white arrow represents the initiation of the hydraulic retention time decrease; the black arrow represents the onset of the starving period