Thermophilic Microbial Inoculant Promotes Lignocellulose Degradation During Green Waste Composting.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Waste Management

Background:

• Green waste composting (GWC) efficiency is often limited by lignocellulose degradation.
• Thermophilic microbial inoculants (CI) show potential for optimizing GWC, but mechanisms are unclear.
• Understanding microbial and enzymatic changes is crucial for improving composting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of thermophilic microbial inoculant (CI) on lignocellulose degradation during green waste composting.
• To elucidate the microbial and enzymatic pathways responsible for enhanced degradation by CI.
• To compare the efficacy of CI with other treatments like effective microorganisms (EM) and Phanerochaete chrysosporium (WF).

Main Methods:

• Composting experiments with four treatments: CI, EM, WF, and natural composting (CK).
• Metagenomic analysis of microbial communities and gene expression in CI and CK treatments.
• Analysis of lignocellulose degradation rates and compost product quality.

Main Results:

• CI significantly increased lignocellulose degradation rates (3.66% to 31.8%) compared to CK.
• Metagenomics revealed enrichment of genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) in CI-treated compost.
• CI inoculation increased the abundance of lignocellulose-degrading microbes and simplified microbial network structure.

Conclusions:

• Thermophilic microbial inoculant (CI) effectively enhances lignocellulose degradation in green waste composting.
• CI optimizes the composting microenvironment and microbial cooperation, leading to improved efficiency.
• This study provides insights into microbial inoculant application and identifies key taxa for lignocellulose degradation in compost.