ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Bacterial Community Succession in Earthworm
Mucus and Sludge Compost and its Relationship
with Environmental Factors
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1
School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
2
Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin
Co-founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of Education, Wuhu 241000, China
3
Engineering laboratory of comprehensive utilization and ecological protection of soil and water resources in high
diving level mining area of Anhui province, Huainan 232001, China
4
College of Biological Engineering, Huainan Normal University, Huainan 232001, China
5
Key Laboratory of Bioresource and Environmental Biotechnology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes,
Huainan 232038, China
6
School of Metallurgy and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650031, China
7
Anhui Open Source Landscaping Engineering Co., LTD, Hefei 230031, China
Submission date: 2023-12-09
Final revision date: 2024-01-10
Acceptance date: 2024-01-26
Online publication date: 2024-04-11
Corresponding author
Xingming Wang
School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effects of adding earthworm mucus on the changes in sludge compost bacterial
community structure and its response to environmental factors. The results showed that adding earthworm
mucus improved the composting effect of sludge, reducing nitrogen loss and increasing nutrients; nitrogen
loss decreased by 5.55%, and potassium and phosphorus increased by 10.23 and 16.28%, respectively.
Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the main bacterial phyla in the sludge,
with a combined relative abundance of over 60%. The addition of earthworm mucus significantly impacted
bacterial community structure and composting activity, increasing the relative abundance of dominant
bacteria during the process. Redundancy analysis showed that environmental factors significantly impacted
the changes in bacterial community structure during composting. The results indicate that the addition of
earthworm mucus increases the relative abundance of advantageous bacteria playing essential roles in
sludge composting, enhancing the fertility and maturity of sludge composting products by significantly
reducing nitrogen loss and increasing potassium and phosphorus. Based on the response relationship
between environmental factors and bacterial communities, the bacterial community structure in sludge
composting can be improved by regulating environmental factors (such as pH and moisture content),
enhancing the effectiveness of sludge composting.