Microbial community analyses of composts are influenced by particle size fraction and DNA extraction method

Composting plays a key role in sustainable agriculture by converting organic waste into a valuable soil conditioner. The process is driven by complex microbial communities, whose characterization is essential for optimizing the composting process and compost quality. Molecular techniques such as amplicon sequencing are commonly used for this purpose. However, sampling procedures and DNA extraction methods, key steps in the sequencing workflow, vary often across studies, challenging comparability. We investigated two aspects of sampling preparation that may influence compost microbial analyses. For DNA extraction, often fine fractions ( View larger version (51K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1cd1b77org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c64c9corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@cfb5f6org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b350df_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG