Article
New insights into composting thanks to Next-Gen Sequencing
by Dr Ash Martin PhD BSc(For)Hons
A study of a thermo-composting operation at the São Paulo Zoo Park using Next-Gen Sequencing highlighted the importance of temperature, turning and feedstocks to the compost microbial community over time. An impressive variety of bacterial microorganisms and metabolic functions were found, highlighting compost as a valuable reservoir of bacteria and metabolic functions adapted to an extreme and complex environment. Sustained temperatures of between 50 to 75 °C were thought to be a major factor in the bacterial dominance of the compost, which probably contained a relatively high ratio of manure feedstock. Time-series sampling revealed that turning the compost pile significantly impacted microbial composition, restoring conditions similar to the beginning of the process. The study identified key bacterial phyla such as Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, and reconstructed near-complete genomes of several biomass-degrading bacterial species. Read the in-depth article to find out more.
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Click below to read the in-depth article:
Principal Antunes et al. (2016). Microbial community structure and dynamics in thermophilic composting viewed through metagenomics and metatranscriptomics.
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