Effect of Co-Composting Cattle Manure with Construction and Demolition Waste on the Archaeal, Bacterial, and Fungal Microbiota, and on Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants

Abstract

Agricultural operations generate large quantities of manure which must be eliminated in a manner that is consistent with public health guidelines. Meanwhile, construction and demolition waste makes up about 25% of total solid municipal waste. Co-composting of manure with construction and demolition waste offers a potential means to make manure safe for soil amendment and also divert construction and demolition waste from municipal landfills. Therefore, the archaeal, bacterial, and fungal microbiota of two different types of composted cattle manure and one co-composted with construction and demolition waste, were assessed over a 99-day composting period. The microbiota of the three compost mixtures did not differ, but significant changes over time and by sampling depth were observed. Bacillus and Halocella, however, were more relatively abundant in composted manure from cattle fed dried distillers’ grains and solubles. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were enriched at day 0 and Firmicutes at day 99. The fungal genus Kernia was the most relatively abundant overall and was enriched at day 0. The concentration of 12 antimicrobial resistance determinants in the compost mixtures was also determined, and 10 of these determinants decreased significantly from days 0 to 99. The addition of construction and demolition waste did not affect the persistence of antimicrobial resistance genes or community structure of the compost microbiota and therefore co-composting construction and demolition waste with cattle manure offers a safe, viable way to divert this waste from landfills.

Antibiotic treatment in feedlot cattle: a longitudinal study of the effect of oxytetracycline and tulathromycin on the fecal and nasopharyngeal microbiota

“…Of the six resistance determinants detected, the proportion of tet (M) and tet (W) was affected by antibiotic treatment in both fecal and NP samples. These two genes were also more relatively abundant in all groups at day 34 compared to day 0. tet (M) and tet (W) are abundant in fecal [56] and manure [57] samples from feedlot cattle and also in the airborne particulate matter of the feedlot environment [58], demonstrating the potential for transmission in feedlots. Both oxytetracycline and tulathromycin increased the proportion of resistance determinants in the NP microbiome, albeit at different time points.…”

Effect of Limit-Fed Diets With Different Forage to Concentrate Ratios on Fecal Bacterial and Archaeal Community Composition in Holstein Heifers

“…Euryarchaeota is recognized as the most abundant archaeal phylum in ruminants (Kumar et al, 2015 ; Danielsson et al, 2017 ; Zhou et al, 2017 ). Methanobrevibacter is reported to be the most abundant archaeal genus in the rumen as well as in most samples from dairy feces (Kumar et al, 2015 ; Holman et al, 2016 ). However, our study found that both Methanobrevibacter and Methanocorpusculum were predominant in the feces of Holstein dairy heifers.…”

Antimicrobal Resistance: Fecal Sanitation Strategies for Combatting a Global Public Health Threat

“…Human and animal waste-streams contain antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARBs), ARGs, antibiotics, metals, and other potential agents that could exert selection pressure for AMR. Depending on how the waste is treated and handled, resistance levels can increase or decrease (Marti et al, 2013;Larson, 2015;Bengtsson-Palme et al, 2016;Bondarczuk et al, 2016;Holman et al, 2016;Qian et al, 2016). Ideally, sanitation technologies can be adapted to serve their intended purpose of minimizing human exposure to fecal pathogens, while also reducing the potential spread of ARGs to human pathogens or to the reservoir of resistance in the natural human, aquatic, and soil microbiomes.…”