Microbial Communities in Composting Processes:Succession, Functional Ecology, and Biotechnological Applications

Abstract

Compost is described as a thermogenesis process because it is an exothermic reaction. Composting is a process of aerobic biodegradation, which is carried out by a succession of different microbial populations. These populations are responsible for different phases of the organic matter decomposition process. Recently, this author has reviewed the literature on compost microbiology using next-generation techniques such as genome-resolved metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and ecological network analysis supported by artificial intelligence for predictive modeling. Peer-reviewed papers included in the above review cover the period 2021–2026. The paper has shown that taxonomic biodiversity plays only a minor role in maintaining stability during composting; thermophilic fungi cannot be replaced by bacteria because they are ecologically indispensable; and that microbial interaction network as well as keystone taxa, which cannot be detected by classical abundance-based profiling, promote the efficiency of the composting process. Also, the antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) dynamics were critically underestimated as a biosafety concern in manure-based composting systems; the archaeal community, poorly characterized, is functionally important for nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas dynamics. The most powerful tool to advance predictive engineering of the compost process is integrated multi-omics and AI frameworks. Future research priorities include rigorous characterization of archaeal community function, large-scale industrial validation of laboratory findings, and the development of harmonized methodological standards for composting microbiome studies.