8.5 Conclusions
The present chapter provides an in-depth characterization of bacterial communities
inhabiting green vermicomposts from a taxonomic and functional perspective. Our
findings showed that the studied vermicomposts were biologically different not only
from the parent plant materials but also among them with regard to the abundance of
certain bacterial phyla. Such differences in bacterial community composition may
help to define the potential usefulness of each vermicompost as a soil conditioner
and/or as a plant growth promoter. Moreover, the vermicomposts exhibited higher
functional diversity and higher abundances of putative genes related to specific
metabolic processes potentially beneficial for plant growth and development. This
reinforces the role of vermicomposts as bioactive organic materials and provides
evidence of microbial functions that may explain the positive influence of
vermicompost on soil and plants.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Hugo Martínez, Alberto Da Silva and
Natalia Ribao for their help with the vermicomposting process, sample collection and DNA
extraction. The authors also acknowledge Paul Fraiz for his valuable help regarding the English
wording and style. This study was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y
Competitividad (grant numbers CTM2013-42540-R and AGL2017-86813-R) and the Xunta de
Galicia (grant numbers ED431F 2018/05 and ED431B 2019/038). MGB acknowledges support by
the Programa Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2016-21231; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad).
References
Aira M, Lazcano C, Gómez-Brandón M, Domínguez J (2010) Ageing effects of casts of
Aporrectodea caliginosa on soil microbial community structure and activity. Appl Soil Ecol
46:143–146
Aira M, Domínguez J (2011) Earthworm effects without earthworms: inoculation of raw organic
matter with worm-worked substrates alters microbial community functioning. PLoS One 6:
e16354
Aira M, Bybee S, Pérez-Losada M, Domínguez J (2015) Feeding on microbiomes: effects of
detritivory on the taxonomic and phylogenetic bacterial composition of animal manures.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol 91:fiv117
Blouin M, Barrere J, Meyer N, Lartigue S, Barot S, Mathieu J (2019) Vermicompost significantly
affects plant growth. A meta-analysis. Agron Sustain Dev 39:34
Cai L, Gong X, Sun X, Li S, Yu X (2018) Comparison of chemical and microbiological changes
during the aerobic composting and vermicomposting of green waste. PLoS One 13:e0207494
Callahan BJ, McMurdie PJ, Rosen MJ, Han AW, Johnson AJ, Holmes SP (2016) DADA2: highresolution sample inference from Illumina amplicon data. Nat Methods 13:581–583
Callahan BJ, McMurdie PJ, Holmes SP (2017) Exact sequence variants should replace operational
taxonomic units in marker-gene data analysis. ISME J 11:2639–2643
Chew KW, Chia SR, Yen H-W, Nomanbhay S, Ho Y-C, Show PL (2019) Transformation of
biomass waste into sustainable organic fertilizers. Sustainability 11:2266
Domínguez J, Aira M, Gómez-Brandón M (2010) Vermicomposting: earthworms enhance the work
of microbes. In: Insam H, Franke-Whittle I, Goberna M (eds) Microbes at work: from wastes to
resources. Springer, Berlin, pp 93–114
138
M. Gómez-Brandón et al.
The present chapter provides an in-depth characterization of bacterial communities
inhabiting green vermicomposts from a taxonomic and functional perspective. Our
findings showed that the studied vermicomposts were biologically different not only
from the parent plant materials but also among them with regard to the abundance of
certain bacterial phyla. Such differences in bacterial community composition may
help to define the potential usefulness of each vermicompost as a soil conditioner
and/or as a plant growth promoter. Moreover, the vermicomposts exhibited higher
functional diversity and higher abundances of putative genes related to specific
metabolic processes potentially beneficial for plant growth and development. This
reinforces the role of vermicomposts as bioactive organic materials and provides
evidence of microbial functions that may explain the positive influence of
vermicompost on soil and plants.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Hugo Martínez, Alberto Da Silva and
Natalia Ribao for their help with the vermicomposting process, sample collection and DNA
extraction. The authors also acknowledge Paul Fraiz for his valuable help regarding the English
wording and style. This study was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y
Competitividad (grant numbers CTM2013-42540-R and AGL2017-86813-R) and the Xunta de
Galicia (grant numbers ED431F 2018/05 and ED431B 2019/038). MGB acknowledges support by
the Programa Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2016-21231; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad).
References
Aira M, Lazcano C, Gómez-Brandón M, Domínguez J (2010) Ageing effects of casts of
Aporrectodea caliginosa on soil microbial community structure and activity. Appl Soil Ecol
46:143–146
Aira M, Domínguez J (2011) Earthworm effects without earthworms: inoculation of raw organic
matter with worm-worked substrates alters microbial community functioning. PLoS One 6:
e16354
Aira M, Bybee S, Pérez-Losada M, Domínguez J (2015) Feeding on microbiomes: effects of
detritivory on the taxonomic and phylogenetic bacterial composition of animal manures.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol 91:fiv117
Blouin M, Barrere J, Meyer N, Lartigue S, Barot S, Mathieu J (2019) Vermicompost significantly
affects plant growth. A meta-analysis. Agron Sustain Dev 39:34
Cai L, Gong X, Sun X, Li S, Yu X (2018) Comparison of chemical and microbiological changes
during the aerobic composting and vermicomposting of green waste. PLoS One 13:e0207494
Callahan BJ, McMurdie PJ, Rosen MJ, Han AW, Johnson AJ, Holmes SP (2016) DADA2: highresolution sample inference from Illumina amplicon data. Nat Methods 13:581–583
Callahan BJ, McMurdie PJ, Holmes SP (2017) Exact sequence variants should replace operational
taxonomic units in marker-gene data analysis. ISME J 11:2639–2643
Chew KW, Chia SR, Yen H-W, Nomanbhay S, Ho Y-C, Show PL (2019) Transformation of
biomass waste into sustainable organic fertilizers. Sustainability 11:2266
Domínguez J, Aira M, Gómez-Brandón M (2010) Vermicomposting: earthworms enhance the work
of microbes. In: Insam H, Franke-Whittle I, Goberna M (eds) Microbes at work: from wastes to
resources. Springer, Berlin, pp 93–114
138
M. Gómez-Brandón et al.