Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and microbial community shifts during co-composting of creosote-treated wood

GC composting was characterized by high microbial biomass growth in the early phases, as suggested by phospholipid fatty acid analyses. Based on the 454-pyrosequencing results, fungi (mostly Saccharomycetales) constituted an important portion of the microbial community, and bacteria were characterized by rapid shifts (from Firmicutes (Bacilli) and Actinobacteria to Proteobacteria). However, during BL composting, larger amounts of prokaryotic and eukaryotic PLFA markers were observed during the cooling and maturation phases, which were dominated by Proteobacteria and fungi belonging to the Ascomycota and those putatively related to the Glomeromycota. This work reports the first in-depth analysis of the chemical and microbiological processes that occur during the co-composting of a PAH-contaminated matrix.