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Bacterial community patterns and thermal analyses of composts of various origins

Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Brigitte Knapp

Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Heribert Insam

Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria, heribert.insam{at}uibk.ac.at

Maria Teresa Dell'Abate

CRA-RPS Centro di ricerca per lo studio dell relazioni tra pianta e suolo, Via della Navicella 2, 00184 Roma, Italy

Margarita Ros

Department of Soil and Water Conservation and Management of Organic Wastes, Centro de Edafologia y Biologia aplicada del Segura. CEBAS-CSIC, PO Box 164, 30100 Espinardo-Murcia, Spain

During composting, the degradation of organic waste is accompanied and driven by a succession of microbial populations exhibiting a broad range of functional capabilities. Detailed inventories of the microbial communities in mature compost, however, are not available. Mature composts, originating from biowaste as well as sewage sludge and anaerobic sludge, were studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis-fingerprints after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S rRNA genes using three different universal primer pairs, as well as by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. The composts of different origin had different bacterial communities. The influence of different 16S rDNA primer sets on the same batches of compost DNA was evaluated. The clearest separation of different compost types was obtained by using the PCR primer pair 338f + 518r which is suggested for future applications. Communities from the different biowaste compost samples clustered together and could be separated from sewage sludge communities indicating the establishment of different microbial consortia. A similar differentiation of composts was found with the thermogavimetric analyses. It may thus be concluded that the resulting humus quality is closely linked to the microbial communities involved.

Key Words: Compost maturation • bacterial communities • denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) • 16S rRNA • thermogravimetry • wmr 1079—9

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