Role of keystone drives polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and humification especially combined with aged contaminated soil in co-composting.

Accumulation of persistent organic pollutants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil has become a global problem. Composting is considered one of the more economical methods of soil remediation and is important for the resourceful use of wastes. Agroforestry waste is produced in huge amounts and is utilized at low rates, hence there is an urgent need to manage it. Here, leaf (LVS) or rice straw (SVS) was co-composting with aged contaminated soil to investigate bacteria interaction to PAHs degradation and humus formation. The degradation rate of high molecular weight PAHs (HMW-PAHs) in LVS and SVS reached 58.9% and 52.5%, and the low molecular weight PAHs (LMW-PAHs) were 77.5% and 65%. Meanwhile, the humus increased by 44.8% and 60.5% in LVS and SVS at the end of co-composting. The topological characteristics and community assembly of the bacterial community showed that LVS had higher complexity and more keystones than SVS, suggesting that LVS might more beneficial for the degradation of PAHs. The stability of the co-occurrence network and stochastic processes (dispersal limitation) dominated community assembly made SVS beneficial for humus formation. Mantel test and structural equation models indicated that the transformation of organic matter was important for PAHs degradation and humus formation. Degradation of HMW-PAHs led to bacterial succession, which affected the formation of precursors and ultimately increased the humus content. This study provided potential technology support for improving the quality of agroforestry organic waste composting and degrading PAHs in aged contaminated soil.

Identify the potential driving mechanism of reconstructed bacterial community in reduce CO2 emissions and promote humus formation during cow manure composting.

The mineralization of organic components releases CO2 during composting, which not only leads to the loss of organic carbon, but has a direct negative impact on the environment. Malonic acid as a competitive inhibitor of succinate dehydrogenase could affect the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and reduce CO2 emissions. However, the bacterial interaction and organic component transformation has less known how to malonic acid reduce CO2 and improve of humus synthesis in complex composting. The aim of this study was to investigated the malonic acid on organic carbon sequestration and transforming cow manure waste into products with high humus content. Humus content was elevated by 16.8% and cumulative CO2 emissions (30 d)d reduced by 13.6% after malonic acid addition compared to the CK. SparCC analysis of bacterial interaction presented that the network complexity and stability was more higher with malonic acid addition, while a greater concentration of keystones and their ecological metabolic functions was observed, suggesting they weaken the influence of TCA cycle inhibition by enhancing interactions. PICRUSt predictions indicate that malonic acid might enhance humus content by promoting the synthesis of polyphenols and polymerization with amino acids. This study investigated the potential mechanism of regulators to enhance quality and reduce emissions during humification process, providing a new strategy for the resource utilization of organic solid waste.

Exploration of potential driving mechanisms of Comamonas testosteroni in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and remodelled bacterial community during co-composting.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a cluster of highly hazardous organic pollutants that are widespread in ecosystems and threaten human health. Composting has been shown to be an effective strategy for PAHs degredation. Here, we used Comamonas testosteroni as an inoculant in composting and investigated the potential mechanisms of PAHs degradation by co-occurrence network and structural equation modelling analysis. The results showed that more than 60% of PAHs were removed and the bacterial community responded to the negative effects of PAHs by upgrading the network. Inoculation with C. testosteroni altered bacterial community succession, intensified bacterial response to PAHs, improved metabolic activity, and promoted the degradation of PAHs during co-composting. The increased in the positive cohesion index of the community suggested that agents increased the cooperative behaviour between bacteria and led to changes in keystones of the bacterial network. However, the topological values of C. testosteroni in the network were not elevated, which confirmed that C. testosteroni altered communities by affecting other bacterial growth rather than its own colonisation. This study strengthens our comprehension of the potential mechanisms for the degradation of PAHs in inoculated composting.

Exploration of bacterial community-induced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and humus formation during co-composting of cow manure waste combined with contaminated soil.

To solve polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution, composting was chosen as a remediation method. During composting, the dissipation of PAHs was carried out by resource utilization of organic solid waste and its degradation by bacteria. This study was conducted by co-composting with contaminated soil and cow manure. The results showed that the degradation rates of naphthalene (Nap), phenanthrene (Phe), and benzo[α]pyrene (BaP) could reach 82.2%, 79.4%, and 59.6% respectively during composting. Cluster analysis indicated that polyphenol oxidase (PPO), laccase, and protease were important drivers of PAHs transformation. The content of humic substances (HS) was 106.67 g/kg in PAH treatment, which was significantly higher than that in the control group at 65 days. The phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) and network analysis was used to infer the degradation mechanism of PAHs by microorganisms. The degradation of PAHs by PPO was found to have a significant contribution to the formation of HS. It was shown that PAHs and metabolic intermediates were more inclined to be oxidized and decomposed by PPO to form quinone, which in turn condensed with amino acids to form HS. Composting could promote the degradation of PAHs while improving the quality of compost, achieving a win-win situation.

Exploring the internal driving mechanism underlying bacterial community-induced organic component conversion and humus formation during rice straw composting with tricarboxylic acid cycle regulator addition.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle regulators on CO2 emissions, the conversion of organic components and humus formation during composting. The addition of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) reduced CO2 emissions during rice straw composting. According to co-occurrence networks results, ATP enhanced the connectivity and complexity of the network; NADH enhanced microbial interactions. The different kind of TCA cycle regulators had different effect on humus formation pathway. The structural equation model showed that ATP might promote lignin transformation into humus via the sugar-amine condensation pathway and lignin-protein pathway while NADH may promote cellulose degradation into soluble sugar and organic matter, which are transformed into humus. This work will provide valuable guidance for exploring the mechanism of TCA cycle regulators in promoting organic carbon fixation and reducing inorganic carbon mineralization.

Interactions affecting the mechanical properties of macromolecular microsphere composite hydrogels.

Macromolecular microsphere composite (MMC) hydrogel is a kind of tough hydrogel fabricated by using peroxidized macromolecular microspheres as polyfunctional initiating and cross-linking centers (PFICC). The contribution of chemical cross-linking (covalent bonding) and physical cross-linking (chain entanglement and hydrogen bonding) to the mechanical properties are understood by testing the hydrogels, which were swollen in water or aqueous urea solutions to different water contents. The as-prepared MMC gels exhibited moderate moduli (60-270 kPa), high fracture tensile stresses (up to 0.54 MPa), high extensibilities (up to 2500%), and high fracture energies (270-770 J m(-2)). The moduli of the swollen gels decrease dramatically, but there are no significant changes in fracture tensile strength and fracture strain, even slight increases. More interestingly, the swollen gels show much-enhanced fracture energies, higher than 2000 J m(-2). A gradual decrease in the hysteresis ratio and residual strain is also found in the cyclic tensile testing of the hydrogels that were swollen to different water contents. The covalent bonding determines the tensile strength and fracture energy of the MMC gels, whereas the physical entanglement and hydrogen bonding among the polymer chains contributes mainly to the modulus of the MMC gels, and they are also the main reason for the presence of hysteresis in the loading-unloading cycles.