An improved effective microorganism (EM) soil ball-making method for water quality restoration.
Soil balls containing the so-called effective microorganisms (EM) have been applied to improve water quality of small ponds, lakes, and streams worldwide. However, neither the physical conditions facilitating their proper application nor the diversity of microbial community in such soil balls have been investigated. In this study, the application of 0.75% of hardener to the soil balls exerted almost neutral pH (pH 7.3) which caused up to a fourfold increased hardness of the soil ball. Moreover, the 0.75% of hardener in the soil ball also improved the water quality due to a significant reduction in dissolved oxygen, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen contents. Metagenomic analysis of the microbial community in the soil ball with 0.75% hardener was compared with control (traditional soil ball) through next-generation sequencing. The traditional soil ball microbial community comprised 96.1% bacteria, 2.7% eukaryota, and 1% archaea, whereas the soil ball with 0.75% hardener comprised 71.4% bacteria, 27.9% eukaryota, and 0.2% viruses. Additionally, metagenomic profiles for both traditional and improved soil balls revealed that the various xenobiotic biodegradation, such as those for caprolactam, atrazine, xylene, toluene, styrene, bisphenol, and chlorocyclohexane might be responsible for organic waste cleanup.
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
Gun-Seok
GS
Park
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
Abdur Rahim
AR
Khan
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
Yunyoung
Y
Kwak
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
Sung-Jun
SJ
Hong
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
ByungKwon
B
Jung
Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Ihsan
I
Ullah
School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
Jong-Guk
JG
Kim
School of Applied Bioscience, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea. jhshin@knu.ac.kr.
Jae-Ho
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6450-9787
JH
Shin
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D056186:Metagenomics; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D060753:Water Quality
D012987:Soil; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
Biodegradation; Effective microorganisms; Metagenome; Microbial community; Soil ball; Water quality