Effects of a nutrient additive on the density of functional bacteria and the microbial community structure of bioorganic fertilizer

Recovery and utilization of waste filtrate from industrial biological fermentation: Development and metabolite profile of the Bacillus cereus liquid bio-fertilizer

Most fermentation waste filtrates can be used as raw materials for producing bio-fertilizers to reduce wastewater emissions and environmental pollution, but their bio-fertilizer utilization depends on the nutrients contained and their metabolized by functional microorganism. To achieve bio-fertilizer utilization of Acremonium terricola fermented waste filtrate, this study systematically explored the functional microbial species for making good use of waste liquid, optimized material process parameters for bio-fertilizer production based on D-optimal mixture design method, and analyzed the composition of the waste filtrate and its metabolism by functional microorganisms using a non-targeted LC-MS metagenomics technique. The results showed that Bacillus cereus was the functional microbial candidate for producing bio-fertilizer because of its more efficiently utilize the waste filtrate than other Bacillus sp. The optimal material process parameters of the liquid bio-fertilizer were the inoculum dose of 5% (v:v, %), 80% of waste filtrate, 0.25% of N, 3.5% of P2O5, 3.25% of K2O of mass percentage. Under these conditions, the colony forming unit (CFU) of Bacillus cereus could reach (1.59 ± 0.01) × 108 CFU/mL, which met the bio-fertilizer standard requirements of the People's Republic of China (NY/T798). Furthermore, the potential functions of bio-fertilizer were studied based on comparison of raw materials and production components: on the one hand, waste filtrate contained abundant of nitrogen and carbon sources, and bioactive substances secreted by Acremonium terricola, such as β-alanyl-L-lysine, anserine, UMP, L-lactic acid and etc., which could meet the nutrient requirements of the growth of Bacillus cereus; On the other hand, some compounds of waste filtrate with the potential to benefit the plant growth and defense, such as betaine aldehyde, (2E,6E)-farnesol, homogentisic acid and etc., were significantly up regulated by Bacillus cereus utilization of the filtrate. To sum up, this work highlighted that the waste filtrate could be efficiently developed into liquid bio-fertilizer by Bacillus cereus.

Effects of nitrogen reduction combined with bio-organic fertilizer on soil bacterial community diversity of red raspberry orchard

Understanding soil bacterial diversity under nitrogen reduction is necessary for the crucial role in soil nitrogen cycling. However, the effects of combined fertilization on soil chemical properties, microbial community structure, and yield are unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilizer reduction with bio-organic fertilizer on soil bacterial community diversity of red raspberry orchard. Six treatments were set in this study: NF-100%, NF-75%, NF-50%, NF-25% and CF, no nitrogen fertilizer and bio-organic fertilizer for CK. The bacterial community structures of soil were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplification high-throughput sequencing technology. Nitrogen fertilizer reduction with bio-organic fertilizer increased soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK), and reduced soil pH. NF-50% and NF-25% treatments increased the yield of red raspberry. Nitrogen reduction combined with bio-organic fertilizer increased the relative abundance of copiotrophic bacteria and decreased the relative abundance of oligotrophic bacteria. The increase in copiotrophic bacteria in the soil of red raspberry orchard could indicate an increase in soil nutrient availability, which have positive implications for soil fertility and production. However, nitrogen fertilizer reduction with bio-organic fertilizer altered the abundance and diversity of soil bacteria, which was reduced compared to CF treatments. The PCoA analysis of the soil bacterial community showed that the community structure of NF-25% treatment was more different from other treatments, indicating that the fertilization method changed the community structure of soil bacteria. The results of a redundancy analysis showed that SOM, pH, AN, TN, and AP were the main factors affecting the microbial community structure. Overall, the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer with bio-organic fertilizer significantly increased the soil nutrient content, reduced the relative abundance and diversity of soil bacteria, increased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria in the soil, changed the bacterial community structure of soil, increased production and created suitable soil conditions for the red raspberry growth.

Mitigated Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Cropping Systems by Organic Fertilizer and Tillage Management

Cultivating ecological benefits in agricultural systems through greenhouse gas emission reduction will offer extra economic benefits for farmers. The reported studies confirmed that organic fertilizer application could promote soil carbon sequestration and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions under suitable tillage practices in a short period of time. Here, a field experiment was conducted using a two-factor randomized block design (organic fertilizers and tillage practices) with five treatments. The results showed that the application of microbial fertilizers conserved soil heat and moisture, thereby significantly reducing CO2 emissions (6.9–18.9%) and those of N2O and CH4 fluxes during corn seasons, compared with chemical fertilizer application. Although deep tillage increased total CO2 emissions by 4.9–37.7%, it had no significant effect on N2O and CH4 emissions. Application of microbial organic fertilizer increased corn yield by 21.5%, but it had little effect on the yield of wheat. Overall, application of microbial fertilizers significantly reduced soil GHG emission and concurrently increased yield under various tillage practices in a short space of time. With this, it was critical that microbial fertilizer be carefully studied for application in wheat–corn cropping systems.

The Performance and Microbial Community Identification in Mesophilic and Atmospheric Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Associated with Different Hydraulic Retention Times

The anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) with ring membrane module were operated under mesophilic temperature (M-AnMBR) and atmospheric temperature (A-AnMBR). Compared to the M-AnMBR, the removal efficiency of the A-AnMBR was found to be lower and the faster membrane fouling occurred in the A-AnMBR under corresponding hydraulic retention time (HRT). The MiSeq high-throughput sequencing was applied to analyze the microbial community structure. The HRT change had different effects on the community richness and diversity of the cake and bulk sludge. The abundance of phylum Proteobacteria in the M-AnMBR was higher than that in the A-AnMBR, which should account for the higher removal of nutrients in the M-AnMBR. The faster membrane fouling would occur in the A-AnMBR due to the relatively high abundance of Bacteroidetes in the bulk sludge and cake sludge. Moreover, specific comparison down to the genus level showed that the dominant abundant bacterial genera were Candidate division OP8 norank and Anaerolineaceae uncultured in the cake sludge for M-AnMBR, and were VadinHA17 norank, WCHB1-69 norank, VadinBC27 wastewater-sludge group, and Synergistaceae uncultured in the cake sludge for A-AnMBR The different representative genera with the variation of the HRTs for the two bioreactors might indicate the different performance between the two AnMBRs.

Biostimulation of nutrient additions on indigenous microbial community at the stage of nitrogen limitations during composting

Microorganisms can play a crucial role in the efficiency for composting, which are essential for converting the organic wastes into a well-stabilized, value added product. However, the activity of most of the key functional microorganisms were inhibited due to the limited special nutrient substances or other physiochemical factors during composting, which further affected the quality of compost. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of enriched ammonium (NH₄⁺-N) and organic nitrogen (Org-N) on indigenous microbial community and whether nitrogen (N) nutrient additions could modify the special species during composting. The results showed that the abundance and structure of bacterial community had distinctly diverse responses to different N nutritional treatments (no nutrient addition, NH₄⁺-N addition, and Org-N addition). The addition of N sources enhanced the abundance of corresponding uncultured indigenous species negatively related to the factor of NH₄⁺ and Org-N in redundancy analysis (RDA) during composting but the effect of NH₄⁺ was more significant than Org-N. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination (NMDS) demonstrated that both the two N additions changed bacterial community but had different duration for affecting bacterial composition. Conclusively, an optimized method for regulating the key stains with special biological capacity is proposed by controlling the single limiting-nutrient factor sharply decreasing at one of composting stages and negatively related to the key species in RDA.

Effects of oxytetracycline on the abundance and community structure of nitrogen-fixing bacteria during cattle manure composting

The effects of oxytetracycline (OTC) on nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities were investigated during cattle manure composting. The abundance and community structure of nitrogen-fixing bacteria were determined by qPCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), respectively. The matrix was spiked with OTC at four levels: no OTC, 10mg/kg dry weight (DW) OTC (L), 60mg/kg DW OTC (M), and 200mg/kg DW OTC (H). The high temperature period of composting was shorter with M and H, and the decline in temperature during the cooling stage was accelerated by OTC. OTC had a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on the nitrogenase activity during early composting, and the nifH gene abundance declined significantly during the later composting stage. The DGGE profile and statistical analysis showed that OTC changed the nitrogen-fixing bacterial community succession and reduced the community richness and dominance. The nitrogen-fixing bacterial community structure was affected greatly by the high level of OTC.

Amino Acids Hydrolyzed from Animal Carcasses Are a Good Additive for the Production of Bio-organic Fertilizer

High-quality bio-organic fertilizers (BIOs) cannot be produced without the addition of some proteins. In this study, compound liquid amino acids (CLAA) from animal carcasses were utilized as additives into matured composts to create novel BIOs containing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The results showed that adding CLAA and inoculating bacteria meanwhile resulted in failed solid-state fermentation (SSF) due to the higher H(+) contents. While after pre-compost for 4 days before PGPR inoculation, treatments of matured chicken or pig manure added with 0.2 ml g(-1) of CLAA resulted in a maximum biomass of functional strains. Illumine-MiSeq sequencing and Real-Time PCR results showed that the CLAA addition decreased the bacterial abundance and richness, altered the bacterial community structure and changed the relative abundance of some microbial groups. This study offers a high value-added utilization of waste protein resources for producing economical, high-quality BIO.

Perchlorate reduction by hydrogen autotrophic bacteria and microbial community analysis using high-throughput sequencing

Hydrogen autotrophic reduction of perchlorate have advantages of high removal efficiency and harmless to drinking water. But so far the reported information about the microbial community structure was comparatively limited, changes in the biodiversity and the dominant bacteria during acclimation process required detailed study. In this study, perchlorate-reducing hydrogen autotrophic bacteria were acclimated by hydrogen aeration from activated sludge. For the first time, high-throughput sequencing was applied to analyze changes in biodiversity and the dominant bacteria during acclimation process. The Michaelis-Menten model described the perchlorate reduction kinetics well. Model parameters q(max) and K(s) were 2.521-3.245 (mg ClO4(-)/gVSS h) and 5.44-8.23 (mg/l), respectively. Microbial perchlorate reduction occurred across at pH range 5.0-11.0; removal was highest at pH 9.0. The enriched mixed bacteria could use perchlorate, nitrate and sulfate as electron accepter, and the sequence of preference was: NO3(-) > ClO4(-) > SO4(2-). Compared to the feed culture, biodiversity decreased greatly during acclimation process, the microbial community structure gradually stabilized after 9 acclimation cycles. The Thauera genus related to Rhodocyclales was the dominated perchlorate reducing bacteria (PRB) in the mixed culture.

The use of concentrated monosodium glutamate wastewater as a conditioning agent for adjusting acidity and minimizing ammonia volatilization in livestock manure composting

In this study, concentrated monosodium glutamate waste (CMGW) was proposed as a conditioning agent to adjust acidity and decrease ammonia (NH3) volatilization in thermophilic aerobic composting based on two incubation experiments. The results showed that with the addition of CMGW, NH3 volatilization of compost mixture under high temperature phase decreased significantly and pH met the current national standard within 5.5-8.5. When CMGW dosage increased to 2% (v/w), the decrease in NH3 volatilization was as high as 78.9%. This effect was enhanced by repeated application of CMGW. Furthermore, although the electrical conductivity increased with the application of CMGW, both the germination index and the microbial respiration of compost mixture implied that CMGW had no negative effects on the maturity of compost, instead, a comprehensive maturity might be accelerated. It was concluded that CMGW was an optional conditioning agent for thermophilic aerobic composting of livestock manure in regards to adjusting acidity and preventing nitrogen loss from NH3 volatilization.

Impacts of dimethyl phthalate on the bacterial community and functions in black soils

Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), a known endocrine disruptor and one of the phthalate esters (PAEs), is a ubiquitous pollutant. Its impacts on living organisms have aroused great concern. In this study, the impacts of DMP contamination on bacterial communities and functions were tested by using microcosm model in black soils. The results showed that the operational taxonomic unit (OTUs) richness and bacterial diversity were reduced by DMP contamination. The relative percentages of some genera associated with nitrogen metabolism were increased by DMP contamination, while the relative percentages of some other genera that were extremely beneficial to soil health were decreased by DMP contamination. Further, the relative percentages of some genera that possessed the capability to degrade DMP were increased by the DMP treatment at low concentrations (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg), but were decreased by the high concentration DMP treatment (40 mg/kg). Clearly, DMP contamination changed the bacterial community structure and disturbed the metabolic activity and functional diversity of the microbes in black soils. Our results suggest that DMP pollution can alter the metabolism and biodiversity of black soil microorganisms, thereby directly impact fertility and ecosystem functions.