title: Material and microbial changes during corn stalk silage and their effects on methane fermentation.
abstract: Silage efficiency is crucial for corn stalk storage in methane production. This study investigated characteristics of dynamic changes in materials and microbes during the silage process of corn stalks from the initial to stable state. We conducted laboratory-scale study of different silage corn stalks, and optimized silage time (0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30days) for methane production and the endogenous microbial community. The volatile fatty acid concentration increased to 3.00g/L on Day 10 from 0.42g/L on Day 0, and the pH remained below 4.20 from 5.80. The lactic acid concentration (44%) on Day 10 lowered the pH and inhibited the methane yield, which gradually decreased from 229mL/g TS at the initial state (Day 0, 2) to 207mL/g TS at the stable state (Day 10, 20, 30). Methanosaeta was the predominant archaea in both fresh and silage stalks; however, richness decreased from 14.11% to 4.75%.
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yubin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jiadong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Beijing Engineering Technology Research Center of Raw Milk Quality and Safety Control, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences/Daqing Bio-Tech Institute, Northeast Forestry University, China.
authors.forename: HongYan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Centre for Physical and Chemical Analysis, China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: XuFeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Zong-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: wxiaofen@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaofen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000502:physiology; D056804:Biofuels; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012820:Silage / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D002244:Carbon; D008697:Methane
keywords: Methane yield; Microbial community; Silage corn stalk; Volatile fatty acids