Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
14:34
Biocontained Carcass Composting for Control of Infectious Disease Outbreak in Livestock
Published on: May 6, 2010
Carbon-Stimulated Bioaugmentation Enhances Thermogenesis, Lignocellulose Degradation, and Humification in
Mengke He1,2,3,4,5,6, Doudou Jin1,2,3,4,5,6, Yaowei Chi1,2,3,4,5,6
1School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Microorganisms
|May 27, 2026
Summary
This study enhanced cattle manure composting in cold weather using molasses and microbial inoculants. The combined strategy boosted temperature, accelerated organic matter breakdown, and improved humic acid content for efficient composting.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Soil Science
Background:
- Low ambient temperatures hinder aerobic composting efficiency and microbial activity in livestock manure.
- The
- cold-start
- barrier limits effective bioconversion and nutrient stabilization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the coupled effects of molasses (carbon source) and specific microbial inoculants (Streptomyces griseorubens JSD-1 and Paenarthrobacter nitroguajacolicus LDT1-8) on cattle manure composting under cold conditions.
- To assess the impact of these amendments on thermogenesis, organic matter degradation, humic acid formation, and microbial community structure.
Main Methods:
- Composting trials using cattle manure with combined molasses and microbial inoculant treatments.
- Monitoring of temperature profiles and thermophilic phase duration.
- Analysis of organic matter components (cellulose, hemicellulose) and humic acid content.
- Amplicon sequencing for microbial community structure analysis.
- Redundancy analysis to determine drivers of microbial succession.
Main Results:
- The combined strategy significantly accelerated thermogenesis, reaching a peak temperature of 62.1 °C and extending the thermophilic phase by 2 days.
- Enhanced degradation of cellulose (44.0%) and hemicellulose (49.3%), with a 33.4% increase in humic acid content.
- Amendments reshaped microbial communities, enriching taxa involved in lignocellulose degradation and humification (e.g., Actinobacteriota, Mycothermus).
Conclusions:
- Combined application of molasses and microbial inoculants effectively overcomes the
- cold-start
- problem in cattle manure composting.
- This strategy promotes rapid temperature rise, enhances lignocellulose degradation and humification through directed microbial succession.
- Provides an effective approach for improving composting efficiency in low-temperature environments.
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