Phylum and class level
The most abundance fungal phyla detected across the compost samples were Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, and Zoopagomycota(Fig. 7). These fungal phyla were further classified into various classes, orders, families, genera, and species (Supplementary Fig. S1, S2, S3, S4, & S5). The leaf litter compost samples, DRCC20 and DRCTI10, had the highest Ascomycota levels with the total OTUs of 63302 and 62968, respectively. Whereas, the leaf compost sample, DRCTI140D, had the lowest Ascomycota counts with the total OTU of 2949. Among the other organic waste composts analysed, the cow dung manure (DRCCD) had relatively higher level of Ascomycota (total OTU = 38316), though lower than the leaf compost (DRCTI10). On the other hand, the kitchen waste compost (DRCK) and neem cake compost (DRCNM) had the lowest levels of Ascomycota with total OTUs of 3248 and 3535, respectively (Supplementary Table S2).
Basidiomycota was detected with a relatively lower counts in the leaf composts than the other organic waste composts such as municipal organic waste compost and cow dung manure. Among the leaf composts, the samples DRCC20 and DRCLC36W had higher levels of Basidiomycota with the total OTUs of 11908 and 8131, respectively. While the leaf compost samples, DRCTI10 and DRCTB10, had relatively lower levels of Basidiomycota with total OTUs of 2185 and 1990. The other organic waste compost such as municipal organic waste compost (DRCM) and cow dung manure (DRCCD) had relatively high Basidiomycota counts with the total OTUs of 45141 and 43675. Whereas, the neem cake (DRCNM) and kitchen waste compost (DRCK) had relatively very low levels of Basidiomycota with the total OTUs of 250 and 158, respectively. The leaf litter compost samples which were composted for three weeks such as DRCTI10 and DRCTB10 had very low counts of Mucoromycota with total OTUS of 19 and 5. Whereas, the leaf litter compost sample DRCTI140D, which was composted for twelve weeks, had relatively high counts of Mucoromycota with the total OTU of 25282. Among the other organic waste compost analysed, the cow dung manure and vermicompost had relatively higher levels of Mucoromycota with the total OTUs of 7436 and 1033, respectively. On the other hand, the kitchen waste and neem cake compost had negligible count of Mucoromycota. Zoopagomycota was another phylum identified across the samples, but the count of this phylum was almost negligible in the leaf litter composts such as DRCTI10, DRCTB10, and DRCTI140D. While, the leaf compost sample DRCLC36W had relatively higher level of Zoopagomycota with the total OTU of 239. The cow dung manure had the highest level of Zoopagomycota with the total OTU of 954, followed by the vermicompost with the total OTU of 287. The other organic composts such as municipal organic waste compost, kitchen waste compost and neem cake compost had negligible level of Zoopagomycota.
At the Class level of the taxonomic classification, about eighteen fungal Classes were identified across all the compost samples (Supplementary Table S3). Some of the fungal Classes that were identified with relatively higher abundance across the samples includes Saccharomycetes, Sordariomycetes, Wallemiomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, Dothideomycetes, and Tremellomycetes(Fig. 8). The leaf litter composts had relatively higher counts of Saccharomycetes than other types of organic waste compost analysed such as cow dung manure and kitchen waste compost. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCTI10 had the highest level of Saccharomycetes with the total OTU of 61707. While the leaf compost samples DRCC20 and DRCTB10 had relatively high level of Saccharomycetes with comparable abundance. Interestingly, the counts of Saccharomycetes were drastically reduced in the leaf compost samples that were composted for twelve weeks (DRCTI140D) and the sample that was composted with the addition of the neem and castor leave (DRCLC36W). Among the other types of organic waste compost analysed, the cow dung manure had relatively higher level of Saccharomycetes, followed by the kitchen waste compost with the total OTUs of 4804 and 2938, respectively. Whereas, the level of Saccharomycetes in the neem cake compost was negligible. Sordariomycetes was also detected across all the samples, with relatively higher abundance in some samples while low in others. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCC20 had relatively higher counts of Sordariomycetes with the total OTU of 20139, followed by the samples DRCLC36W (Total OTU = 7776). The other leaf compost samples such as DRCTI10 and DRCTB10 had very low counts of Sordariomycetes with the total OTUs of 553 and 213, respectively.
On the other hand, the cow dung manure (DRCCD) had the highest level of Sordariomycetes with the total OTU of 31416. The vermicompost (DRCV) and municipal organic waste compost (DRCM) also had relatively high levels of Sordariomycetes with the total OTUs of 10407 and 8662, respectively. Whereas, the kitchen waste compost and neem cake compost had very low counts of this fungal class. The counts of Wallemiomycetes were relatively lower in the leaf litter composts than the cow dung manure and municipal organic waste compost, but higher than the kitchen waste compost and neem cake compost. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCC20 had a highest level of Wallemiomycetes, followed by the sample DRCLC36W with the total OTUs of 10919 and 8110, respectively. While, the leaf compost sample DRCTI10, which was composted for three weeks, had the lowest count of Wallemiomycetes with the total OTU of 1546. But, the count of Wallemiomycetes was increased in the leaf compost (DRCTI140D) which was composted for twelve weeks, with the total OTU of 2731. The municipal organic waste compost and cow dung manure had relatively very high levels of Wallemiomycetes, the total OTUs of 44989 and 43432, respectively. Whereas, the neem cake compost and kitchen waste compost had very low counts of this fungal class, with the total OTUs of 250 and 125, respectively.
Eurotiomycetes were detected across the compost samples with varied proportion. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCC20 had the highest counts of Eurotiomycetes, followed by the sample DRCLC36W, having the total OTUs of 9394 and 1571, respectively. Whereas, the leaf compost samples of different treatments such as DRCTB10 and DRCTI10 had relatively very low counts of Eurotiomycetes, having the total OTUs of 158 and 87, respectively. The other organic waste composts analysed such as neem cake compost, municipal organic waste compost, and cow dung manure also had relatively high counts of Eurotiomycetes, having the total OTUs of 3314, 1461, and 1328, respectively. While the vermicompost (DRCV) and kitchen waste compost (DRCK) had low level of this fungal count, having the total OTUs of 188 and 27, respectively. Dothideomycetes were detected with relatively higher counts in the leaf litter composts than the other organic waste composts such as kitchen and municipal organic waste compost. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCC20 had the highest counts of Dothideomycetes with the total OTU of 2927. The leaf compost of other treatments such as DRCTB10 and DRCLC36W also had a relatively high count of Dothideomycetes. The leaf compost sample DRCTI10 had the lowest counts (total OTU = 587) of the fungal class, which is lower than the vermicompost and cow dung manure, but higher than the kitchen waste compost (DRCK), municipal organic waste compost (DRCM), and neem cake compost (DRCNM). The counts of Dothideomycetes were also relatively high in the cow dung manure and vermicompost, having the total OTUs of 741 and 587, respectively. However, the counts of this fungal class in the neem cake compost were almost negligible. Tremellomycetes was detected in different composts, but with relatively higher abundance in the leaf composts. Among the leaf composts, the sample DRCTI10 had the highest counts of Tremellomycetes with the total OTU of 1413, followed by the sample DRCC20 with the total OTU of 773. While, the leaf compost sample DRCLC36W had very low counts (total OTU = 18) of the fungal class. The other organic waste composts such as cow dung manure, municipal organic waste compost, vermicompost, and kitchen waste compost had relatively low counts of Tremellomycetes, having the total OTUs of 98, 41, 27, and 26, respectively. Also, the total OTU count of Tremellomycetes in the neem cake compost was completely absent.
Mortierellomycetes were detected with low counts in the leaf composts. But, remarkably, the counts of Mortierellomycetes were relatively very high only in the leaf compost sample DRCTI140D, which was composted for twelve weeks, having the total OTU of 25,277. The other organic waste compost such as cow dung manure and vermicompost had high counts of Mortierellomycetes, having the total OTUs of 7432 and 1032, respectively. While the composts generated from the kitchen waste and organic fraction of the municipal solid waste had very low counts of Mortierellomycetes. Pezizomycetes were detected with a relatively higher counts only in the municipal organic waste compost (DRCM) with the total OTU of 2369. The other fungal class such as Agaricomycetes and Basidiobolomycetes were found to be relatively high only in the cow dung manure, vermicompost and the municipal organic waste compost. While the counts of such fungal class in the leaf compost, kitchen waste compost, and neem cake compost were negligible.