Knowledge regarding the ecology of the microbial communities
responsible of the processes in WWTPs, and the mechanisms by
which operation parameters and environmental variables influence
their structure and dynamics, is of great importance for the optimization of the treatment systems and for understanding and solving
process failures (Gray et al., 2002; Molina-Muñoz et al., 2009).
Microorganisms detected by cultivation methods in WWTPs are
estimated to represent only 5–15% of the total community
(Bramucci et al., 2003), hence, molecular biology-based fingerprinting methods have been imposed in recent years to broaden knowledge about the structure and dynamics of microbial communities