Dynamics of Mycobiota during Composting of Cow Manure and Straw

The study of the dynamics of mycobiota during composting the cow manure and wheat straw was carried out, using DNA barcoding and cultural method. Fungi of phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Chytridiomycota, Rozellomycota and Aphelidiomycota have been found using DNA barcoding. Cultural (plating) method identified fungi of phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota. All the orders of fungi determined by the plating method, with the exception of Saccharomycetales in Ascomycota and Mucorales in Mucoromycota, have been also discovered using DNA barcoding, but many other orders have been identified using the latter method. The coincidence of the species detected by both methods was very rare. The changes in the number of colony-forming and operational-taxonomic units of taxa of different levels have been observed during the transformation of manure with straw into compost. The DNA barcoding allowed to identify more fully the changes in the taxonomic and ecological-trophic structure of the fungal community during composting of manure and straw. They were manifested in a significant increase in the representation of basidiomycetes, especially Coprinus spp., Coprinellus spp., in compost, capable to transform lignin, complex organic substances of manure, and a decrease of the fraction of abundantly spore-bearing "sugars" and cellulolytic ascomycetes predominating in the initial substrates: Sordariomycetes in manure and Dothideomycetes in straw. Significant rearrangements occurred during composting in the composition of coprophilic, epiphytic, and phytopathogenic fungi. The importance of toxin-forming, allergenic, and thermophilic species of fungi that pose a danger to human health, and the possibility of assessing the readiness of compost for application to the soil as a biofertilizer, taking into account data on mycobiota, have been discussed.