Author:
Domínguez Jorge,Aira Manuel,Crandall Keith A.,Pérez-Losada Marcos
Abstract
AbstractWastewater treatment plants produce hundreds of million tons of sewage sludge every year all over the world. Vermicomposting is well established worldwide and has been successful at processing sewage sludge, which can contribute to alleviate the severe environmental problems caused by its disposal. Here, we utilized 16S and ITS rRNA high-throughput sequencing to characterize bacterial and fungal community composition and structure during the gut- and cast-associated processes (GAP and CAP, respectively) of vermicomposting of sewage sludge. Bacterial and fungal communities of earthworm casts were mainly composed of microbial taxa not found in the sewage sludge; thus most of the bacterial (96%) and fungal (91%) taxa in the sewage sludge were eliminated during vermicomposting, mainly through the GAP. Upon completion of GAP and during CAP, modified microbial communities undergo a succession process leading to more diverse microbiotas than those found in sewage sludge. Consequently, bacterial and fungal community composition changed significantly during vermicomposting. Vermicomposting of sewage resulted in a stable and rich microbial community with potential biostimulant properties that may aid plant growth. Our results support the use of vermicompost derived from sewage sludge for sustainable agricultural practices, if heavy metals or other pollutants are under legislation limits or adequately treated.
Funder
Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference41 articles.
1. Domínguez, J. State of the art and new perspectives on vermicomposting research. In Earthworm Ecology (ed. Edwards, C. A.) 401–424 (CRC Press, 2004).
2. Domínguez, J., Aira, M. & Gómez-Brandón, M. Vermicomposting: earthworms enhance the work of microbes. In Microbes at Work: From Wastes to Resources (eds Insam, H. et al.) 93–114 (Springer-Verlag, 2010).
3. Domínguez, J. & Edwards, C. A. Relationships between composting and vermicompong. In Vermiculture Technology Earthworms, Organic Wastes, and Environmental Management (eds Edwards, C. A. et al.) 11–26 (CRC Press, 2011).
4. Domínguez, J. & Gómez-Brandón, M. Vermicomposting: composting with earthworms to recycle organic wastes. In Management of Organic Waste (eds Kumar, S. & Bharti, A.) 29–48 (Intech Open Science, 2012).
5. Domínguez, J., Edwards, C. A. & Webster, M. Vermicomposting of sewage sludge: effect of bulking materials on the growth and reproduction of the earthworm Eisenia andrei. Pedobiologia 44, 24–32 (2000).
Cited by
33 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献