Metagenomics of the microbial consortium in the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and poultry droppings

• Microbial diversity in the co-digestion of food waste and poultry droppings. • Bioinformatic tools like QIIME2 and BV-BRC show taxonomic classification. • Key metabolic pathways for the degradation of organic waste and production of biogas. • This research contributes to the knowledge of microbial ecology in anaerobic digestion. The anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and poultry droppings presents a valuable strategy for achieving sustainable waste management and generating renewable energy. In this study, metagenomic analysis was utilized to investigate the microbial consortium driving the process, with a particular focus on the functional potential and interactions among microbial populations. DNA was extracted from the samples collected from the digester. The16S rRNA sequencing was used for the taxonomic diversity and functional profiling of the microbial community derived from the anaerobic digester. The findings reveal a complex interplay of diverse microbial taxa, predominantly Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes , which are crucial for the degradation of organic matter and biogas production. The metabolic pathways utilized by the consortium were highlighted. The application of metagenomic tools, such as QIIME2 for data cleaning, BV-BRC for functional annotation, and PICRUSt for metabolic pathway analysis, facilitated a comprehensive functional profiling of the community, allowing the assessment of the contributions of individual taxa to the overall metabolic processes. The results contribute to the growing body of knowledge on microbial ecology in waste treatment systems and pave the way for future research aimed at optimizing anaerobic digestion processes for sustainable energy production.