title: Effects of earthworms on physicochemical properties and microbial profiles during vermicomposting of fresh fruit and vegetable wastes.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effect of earthworms on physicochemical and microbial properties during vermicomposting of fresh fruit and vegetable wastes (FVW) by contrasting two decomposing systems of FVW with and without earthworms for 5weeks. Compared to control treatment (without earthworms), vermicomposting treatment resulted in a rapid decrease of electrical conductivity and losses of total carbon and nitrogen from the 2nd week. Quantitative PCR displayed that earthworms markedly enhanced bacterial and fungal densities, showing the higher values than control, during the whole decomposition process. In addition, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis combined with sequencing analysis revealed that earthworms pronouncedly modified bacterial and fungal community structures, through broadening the community diversities of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Ascomycotina. These results suggest that the presence of earthworms promoted the activity and population of bacteria and fungi, and modified their communities, thus altering the decomposition pathway of fresh FVW.
authors.affiliation: River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan. Electronic address: huangk1199@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Fusheng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Yongfen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: Xuemin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000254:growth & development; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000502:physiology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D014866:Waste Products
keywords: Earthworms; Fruit and vegetable wastes; PCR-DGGE; Vermicomposting; Waste treatment