The archaeal and bacterial community structure in composted cow manures is defined by the original populations: a shotgun metagenomic approach.

Introduction: Organic wastes are composted to increase their plant nutritional value, but little is known about how this might alter the bacterial and archaeal community structure and their genes.

Methods: Cow manure was collected from three local small-scale farmers and composted under controlled conditions, while the bacterial and archaeal communities were determined using shotgun metagenomics at the onset and after 74 days of composting.

Results: The bacterial, archaeal, methanogen, methanotrophs, methylotroph, and nitrifying community structures and their genes were affected by composting for 74 days, but the original composition of these communities determined the changes.