Unrevealing the potential of microbes in decomposition of organic matter and release of carbon in the ecosystem.

Organic matter decomposition is a biochemical process with consequences affecting climate change and ecosystem productivity. Once decomposition begins, C is lost as CO2 or sequestered into more recalcitrant carbon difficult to further degradation. As microbial respiration releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, microbes act as gatekeepers in the whole process. Microbial activities were found to be the second largest CO2 emission source in the environment after human activities (industrialization), and research investigations suggest that this may have affected climate change over the past few decades. It is crucial to note that microbes are major contributors in the whole C cycle (decomposition, transformation, and stabilization). Therefore, imbalances in the C cycle might be causing changes in the entire carbon content of the ecosystem. The significance of microbes, especially soil bacteria in the terrestrial carbon cycle requires more attention. This review focuses on the factors that affect microorganism behavior during the breakdown of organic materials. The key factors affecting the microbial degradation processes are the quality of the input material, nitrogen, temperature, and moisture content. In this review, we suggest that to address global climate change and its effects on agricultural systems and vice versa, there is a need to double-up on efforts and conduct new research studies to further evaluate the potential of microbial communities to reduce their contribution to terrestrial carbon emission.

Struvite separation from wastewater and its use with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria improves phosphorus utilization in alkaline soil.

A major portion of phosphatic fertilizer comes from the limiting natural resource, rock phosphate, which demands a timely alternative. Struvite, a crystalline mineral of low solubility, is a worthwhile alternative. Evaluation of the local wastewater streams for their ability to precipitate struvite and its capability as phosphatic fertilizer under an alkaline soil environment was studied. Two stirring speeds, a pH range of 8.0-11.0, and a constant molar ratio were used to optimize local wastewater streams for struvite precipitation. Struvite was used in five different combinations to assess the release of phosphorus (P), including control (no P source), single superphosphate, struvite, struvite + sulfur, and rock phosphate with or without inoculation of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB). For struvite precipitation, low stirring speeds are ideal because the precipitates readily sink to the bottom once they form. Furthermore, the amalgamation of SOB with sulfur significantly improved P use efficiency under alkaline soils through increased phosphorus sources solubility and enabled optimum wheat production due to its low solubility in an alkaline soil condition. Due to its capacity to recycle phosphorus from wastewater, struvite is poised to emerge as a sustainable fertilizer and had an opportunity to capture a share of this expanding market.