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Earthworms modify microbial community structure and accelerate maize stover decomposition during vermicomposting

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Abstract

In the present study, maize stover was vermicomposted with the epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida. The results showed that, during vermicomposting process, the earthworms promoted decomposition of maize stover. Analysis of microbial communities of the vermicompost by high-throughput pyrosequencing showed more complex bacterial community structure in the substrate treated by the earthworms than that in the control group. The dominant microbial genera in the treatment with the earthworms were Pseudoxanthomonas, Pseudomonas, Arthrobacter, Streptomyces, Cryptococcus, Guehomyces, and Mucor. Compared to the control group, the relative abundance of lignocellulose degradation microorganisms increased. The results indicated that the earthworms modified the structure of microbial communities during vermicomposting process, activated the growth of lignocellulose degradation microorganisms, and triggered the lignocellulose decomposition.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was supported by Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Project (20110723), the National Natural Science Foundation of China Project (31101337), the Open Fund of Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, and “985 Project” of Jilin University. The authors express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130025, China

    Yuxiang Chen, Lixin Xu, Ran Li, Xiaopei Luo, Xin Zhang & Jin Tong

  2. Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Engineering (Jilin University), Ministry of Education, Changchun, 130025, China

    Yuxiang Chen & Jin Tong

  3. Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering (Beijing Normal University), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100875, China

    Yufen Zhang & Quanguo Zhang

  4. Collaborative Innovation Center of Grain Production Capacity Improvement in Heilongjiang Province, Harbin, China

    Jin Tong

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  1. Yuxiang Chen
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  2. Yufen Zhang
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Correspondence to Jin Tong.

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Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Q. et al. Earthworms modify microbial community structure and accelerate maize stover decomposition during vermicomposting. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 17161–17170 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4955-z

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