Microbiological characterization of vermicomposts by the method of multisubstrate testing

Abstract

A new modification of the method of multisubstrate testing (MST, BIOLOG) is suggested. It is based on the kinetic description of bacterial growth on nutrient media during 50 h. The results of the MST represent a set of three parameters (the initial optical density, the maximum specific growth rate, and the maximum optical density) of an equation describing the growth of microbial communities on individual substrates. Methods of multivariate statistics (cluster and discriminant analyses) have been used to compare these parameters for 24 organic substrates. It is supposed that a more detailed description of the growth of microorganisms should improve the information capacity of the MST method. The effect of earthworms on vermicomposting has been studied experimentally with the MST method. An empirical rule allowing one to distinguish between vermicomposts and ordinary composts using the results of MST is suggested. Manure, earthy matter from the intestinal tracts of earthworms (Eisenia andrei), and their coprolites have been subjected to MST. A functional similarity between manure and fresh coprolites has been found. Also, three different lots of industrial vermicomposts have been compared. The cluster analysis has demonstrated a significant difference between them. The clusters depend on the nature of the initial substrates used for preparing these vermicomposts. Thus, unification of the initial substrates used for composting is necessary to obtain standardized vermicomposts.