Role of vermicompost chemical composition, microbial functional diversity, and fungal community structure in their microbial respiratory response to three pesticides

The relationships between vermicompost chemical features, enzyme activities, community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs), fungal community structures, and its microbial respiratory response to pesticides were investigated. Fungal community structure of vermicomposts produced from damaged tomato fruits (DT), winery wastes (WW), olive-mill waste and biosolids (OB), and cattle manure (CM) were determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 18S rDNA. MicroResp™ was used for assessing vermicompost CLPPs and testing the microbial response to metalaxyl, imidacloprid, and diuron. Vermicompost enzyme activities and CLPPs indicated that WW, OB, and DT had higher microbial functional diversity than CM. The microbiota of the former tolerated all three pesticides whereas microbial respiration in CM was negatively affected by metalaxyl and imidacloprid. The response of vermicompost microbiota to the fungicide metalaxyl was correlated to its fungal community structure. The results suggest that vermicomposts with higher microbial functional diversity can be useful for the management of pesticide pollution in agriculture.