Microbial community dynamics during decomposition of insect exuviae and frass in soil

In this study, we followed the shifts in bacterial and fungal community structure following the amendment of insect waste-streams in agricultural soil. Moulting skin ('exuviae') and excrement ('frass') of mealworm, black soldier fly, and house cricket were mixed with soil at a rate of 1% dry weight and incubated in controlled conditions. Soil samples were collected after 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks. DNA extraction was performed and the samples were subjected for ITS and 16S amplicon sequencing. Similar experiment was conducted using gamma-sterilized insect waste-streams under shorter incubation time (2-8 weeks), in order to determine the influence of microbes already present in insect waste-streams on soil microbial community.