Microbial destruction of chitin in soils under different moisture conditions

The most favorable moisture conditions for the microbial destruction of chitin in soils are close to the total water capacity. The water content has the most pronounced effect on chitin destruction in soils in comparison with other studied substrates. It was found using gas-chromatographic and luminescent-microscopic methods that the maximum specific activity of the respiration of the chitinolytic community was at a rather low redox potential with the soil moisture close to the total water capacity. The range of moisture values under which the most intense microbial transformation of chitin occurred was wider in clayey and clay loamy soils as compared with sandy ones. The increase was observed due to the contribution of mycelial bacteria and actinomycetes in the chitinolytic complex as the soil moisture increased.