Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ecological Engineering. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ecological Engineering, 87, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.12.004
Accepted author manuscript, 1.16 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC-ND: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
| <mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 02/2016 |
|---|---|
| <mark>Journal</mark> | Ecological Engineering |
| Volume | 87 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Pages (from-to) | 288-294 |
| Publication Status | Published |
| Early online date | 17/12/15 |
| <mark>Original language</mark> | English |
Vermicomposting is an effective and environmentally friendly approach for soil organic contamination clean-up. This study investigated the roles and mechanisms of earthworm (Eisenia foetida) on soil pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation with sterile and non-sterile soil-compost treatment. Limited soil PCP degradation was observed in the control and sterile compost treatments, whereas the synergetic effects of earthworm and compost contributed to the PCP biodegradation acceleration by significantly improving microbial biomass and activities. Sequence analysis and phylogentic classification of soil bacterial and fungal community structure after 42 days treatment identified the dominancy of indigenous bacterial families Pseudomonadaceae, Sphingobacteriaceae and Xanthomonadaceae, and fungal family Trichocomaceae, which were responsible for PCP biodegradation and stimulated by vermicomposting. Further investigation revealed the dominant roles of sterile compost during PCP biodegradation as the formation of humus-PCP in soil rather than neutralizing soil pH and increasing PCP availability. The mechanisms of vermicomposting include humus-PCP complex degradation, humus consumption and soil pH neutralization. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the synergetic effect of vermicomposting on microbial community functions and PCP degradation enhancement in soils.