Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026
Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: September 13, 2022
Comparison of microbially enhanced compost extracts produced from composted cattle rumen content material and from
Karuna Shrestha1, Eric M Adetutu, Pramod Shrestha
1Centre for Plant and Water Science (CPWS), Faculty of Science, Engineering and Health, CQUniversity, Rockhampton, 4702 Qld, Australia. k.shrestha@cqu.edu.au
Abstract:
A comparative study was performed on compost extracts prepared from cattle rumen content composted for three and nine months, nine month old compost inoculated with a Nutri-Life 4/20™ inoculum, and two commercial preparations (LivingSoil™ and Nutri-Life 4/20™), all incubated for 48h. Nutri-Life 4/20™ had the highest concentrations of NO(3)(-)-N and K(+)-K, while rumen compost extract had higher humic and fulvic acids concentration. The bacterial and fungal community level functional diversity of three month old compost extract and of LivingSoil™, assessed with Biolog™, were higher than that of nine month old rumen compost extract, with or without Nutri-Life 4/20™ inoculum, or Nutri-Life 4/20™. No difference in fungal diversity was observed between treatments, as indicated by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, however, bacterial diversity was higher in all compost extracts and LivingSoil™ compared to the Nutri-Life 4/20™. Criteria for judging the quality of a microbially enhanced extract are discussed.
