Plant secondary metabolites, biphenyl, and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin effects on aerobic polychlorinated biphenyl removal and microbial community structure in soils

Biphenyl and several plant secondary metabolites (PSM) (carvone, isoprene, limonene, naringin, and coumarin) and surfactant (hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, (HP-β-CD)) have been shown to improve aerobic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) removal by several bacterial species. The objective of this study was to determine whether these treatments also affect PCB removal and microbial community structure in a high organic matter soil (Pahokee soil series with 67% organic matter) and low organic matter soil (Woolper soil series with 6% organic matter), as determined by monitoring changes in PCB levels and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) profiles in laboratory microcosms amended with these compounds. Biphenyl enhanced di-chlorinated and tri-chlorinated biphenyl removal in both soils, but PSM did not improve removal of these congeners. On the contrary, HP-β-CD decreased PCB removal when used in combination with biphenyl. Two-way analysis of variance indicated that HP-β-CD significantly increased tetra- and penta-chlorinated biphenyl removal from the high organic matter soil, but not from the low organic matter soil. Principal components analysis of PLFA data indicated that HP-β-CD increased proportions of 18:1ω7c associated with Gram-negative bacteria, but decreased 10me16 and 10me17 lipid associated with Gram-positive bacteria, while biphenyl and PSMs had no detectable effects on soil microbial communities. PCB removal was not correlated to any PLFA. In conclusion, PSM previously shown to enhance PCB removal in soil-free systems were not effective in two divergent soils evaluated in this study, and HP-β-CB had increase, decrease, or no effect on PCB removal depending on types of PCB congeners, soils, and co-amendments.     

Belowground interactions between intercropped wheat and Brassicas in acidic and alkaline soils

Our previous studies showed that, under P-limiting conditions, growth and P uptake were lower in the wheat genotype Janz than in three Brassica genotypes when grown in monoculture. The present study was conducted to answer the question if P mobilised by the Brassicas is available to wheat; leading to improved growth of wheat when intercropped with Brassicas compared to monocropped wheat. To assess if the interactions between the crops depend on soil type, the wheat genotype Janz and three Brassica genotypes (two canolas and one mustard) were grown for 6 weeks in monoculture or wheat intercropped with each Brassica genotype in an acidic and an alkaline soil with low P availability (with two plants per pot). Wheat grew equally well in the two soils, but the Brassicas grew better in the acidic than in the alkaline soil. In the acidic soil, monocropped Brassicas had a 3 to 4 fold greater plant dry weight (dw) and P uptake than wheat; plant dw and P uptake in wheat were decreased or not affected by intercropping and increased in the Brassicas. In the alkaline soil, dw and P uptake of the Brassicas was twice as high as in wheat, with intercropping having no effect on these parameters. The contribution of wheat to the total shoot dw and P uptake per pot was 4-21% and 32-40% in acidic and alkaline soil, respectively. Mycorrhizal colonisation was low in all genotypes in the acidic soil (1-6%). In the alkaline soil, mycorrhizal colonisation of monocropped wheat was 62%, but only 43-47% in intercropped wheat. Intercropping decreased P availability in the rhizosphere of wheat in the acidic soil but had no effect on rhizosphere P availability in the alkaline soil. Intercropping had a variable effect on rhizosphere microbial community composition (assessed by fatty acid methylester analysis (FAME) and ribosomal intergenic spacer amplification (RISA)), ranging from intercropping having no effect on the rhizosphere communities to intercropping resulting in a new and similar rhizosphere community composition in both genotypes. The results of this study show that intercropping with Brassicas does not improve growth and P uptake of wheat; thus there is no indication that P mobilised by the Brassicas is available to wheat.     

Soil freeze-thaw cycle experiments: Trends, methodological weaknesses and suggested improvements

Although freeze-thaw cycles can alter soil physical properties and microbial activity, their overall impact on soil functioning remains unclear. This review addresses the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on soil physical properties, microorganisms, carbon and nutrient dynamics, trace gas losses and higher organisms associated with soil. I discuss how the controlled manipulation of freeze-thaw cycles has varied widely among studies and propose that, despite their value in demonstrating the mechanisms of freeze-thaw action in soils, many studies of soil freeze-thaw cycles have used cycle amplitudes, freezing rates and minimum temperatures that are not relevant to temperature changes across much of the soil profile in situ. The lack of coordination between the timing of soil collection and the season for which freeze-thaw cycles are being simulated is also discussed. Suggested improvements to future studies of soil freeze-thaw cycles include the maintenance of realistic temperature fluctuations across the soil profile, soil collection in the appropriate season and the inclusion of relevant surface factors such as plant litter in the fall or excess water in the spring. The implications of climate change for soil freeze-thaw cycles are addressed, along with the need to directly assess how changes in soil freeze-thaw cycle dynamics alter primary production.     

Using perlite as a substrate carrier for measuring microbial available phosphorus by respiration kinetics in soils

The release of CO₂ by soil microorganisms after the addition of nitrogen and glucose in excess and calibration additions of phosphorus has successfully been used to assess microbial available P, assuming the native soil P pool is then limiting respiration. However, in P-fixing soils and soils with high P content, carbon can be exhausted before the available soil P pool. It is not possible to simply increase the amount of glucose as then the glucose concentration would be lethal for microorganisms. A modified method was tested where soil is mixed with perlite. It was hypothesised that perlite, having a high water holding capacity, would dilute the concentration of glucose, while maintaining the bioavailability of added nutrients, thus avoiding carbon limitation. Factorial combinations of amount of soil and perlite (both adjusted to −25 kPa water potential) were tested to examine if perlite as such had any effect on the respiration. Five tropical soil samples with a sharp gradient in P availability and one N-limited compost material were used. The method successfully reduced the risk of carbon limitation. Microbial indices, such as basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration and maximum P-limited respiration, were directly proportional to the amount of soil in the experiments but unrelated to the amount of perlite, showing that perlite did not affect microbial measurements.     

Responses of microbial biomass and respiration of soil to topography,burning, and nitrogen fertilization in a temperate steppe

Temporal dynamics of microbial biomass and respiration of soil and their responses to topography, burning, N fertilization, and their interactions were determined in a temperate steppe in northern China. Soil microbial indices showed strong temporal variability over the growing season. Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) were 14.8 and 11.5% greater in the lower than upper slope, respectively. However, the percentage of organic C present as MBC and the percentage of total N present as MBN were 16.9 and 26.2% higher in the upper than lower slope, respectively. Neither microbial respiration (MR) nor metabolic quotient (qCO₂) was affected by topography. Both MBC and MBN were increased by burning, on average, by 29.8 and 14.2% over the growing season, and MR and qCO₂ tended to reduce depending on the sampling date, especially in August. Burning stimulated the percentage of organic C present as MBC and the percentage of total N present as MBN in the upper slope, but did not change these two parameters in the lower slope. No effects of N fertilization on soil microbial indices were observed in the first growing season after the treatment. Further research is needed to study the long-term relationships between changes in soil microbial diversity and activity and plant community in response to burning and N fertilization.     

Can P NMR spectroscopy be used to indicate the origins of soil organic phosphates?

The relationship between organic P status of 4 soils, 20 microorganisms isolated from these soils (2 bacteria and 3 fungi for each soil) and 13 dominant plant species of typical natural ecosystems of these soils was evaluated. The soils used were represented by two pairs with different ratios of monoester and diester P, and of DNA and other diester P. A Dystric Podzoluvisol and an alpine Umbric Leptosol were characterized by a relatively high proportion of diester P including much DNA P, while a Calcic Chernozem and subalpine Umbric Leptosol had lower proportion of diesters containing relatively less DNA P. The proportions of P compounds in bacteria and plants were very similar on average, based on the monoester to diester P ratio and on the proportions of different diesters in alkaline extract, whereas fungi contained considerably higher proportions of monoesters and polyphosphates, and a higher proportion of phospholipids in the diester fraction. The results showed that the P_org composition of NaOH extracts from different soils was more similar to the composition of extracts from different groups of microorganisms. There was no clear correspondence between soil and microbial diester P proportion and composition. A high proportion of polyphosphate P including pyrophosphate P in soil extracts indicates a significant contribution of fungal P compounds in the soil while the monoester to diester P ratio, and DNA to non-DNA P ratio should be used with caution to interpret the origins of soil P_org. The relative contributions of microorganisms and plants to monoester and diester P in soils is only partially understood.     

Application of para-nitrophenol (pNP) enzyme assays in degraded tropical soils

Enzyme activities have been used as indicators of soil quality and changes in biogeochemical function due to management or perturbations. The objective of this study was to answer a number of methodological questions regarding sampling schemes, sample handling recommendations, and assay procedures to facilitate the use of enzyme assays in the tropical highlands of East Africa. We used para-nitrophenol (pNP) based substrates for five enzymes: β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, chitinase, acid phosphatase, and alkaline phosphatase. In the first experiment, we examined sampling procedures and compared the results of determining enzyme activities on a plot using composite or discrete samples. Composite samples usually had higher activities than the means of individual cores (P<0.05), but relative ranking of sites was the same if analyses were based on composite or discrete samples. In the second experiment, we examined the effects of storage time and conditions on enzyme activity. Enzyme activity degraded rapidly in frozen samples, but was better maintained in samples stored at 4 °C. Phosphatase and cellobiohydrolase activity declined after 14 days of storage, while the activity of the other enzymes remained close to the values of fresh samples for 28 or more days. In the third experiment, we examined the effect of the addition of an antiseptic, toluene, to prevent bacterial growth during the assay. We found no consistent toluene effect (P>0.4), probably because the assays were of short duration and microbial growth was minimized. Finally, we looked at the incubation time necessary to produce reliable results. Phosphatases, with relatively high activities could reliably be determined in 2 h incubations, but the other enzymes had much lower activities and required longer incubation times for reliable determination. For the enzymes we looked at, 4 h was a good standard time for determining the activity of even the lowest activity enzymes. The results of this study provide practical guidelines for applying these enzyme assays in the degraded tropical soils.     

Soil microbial populations and activities as influenced by legume green fallow in a semiarid climate

Tilled fallow-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (F-W) is the most commonly used cropping system in the semiarid Canadian prairie. However, because frequent fallowing degrades soil, a partial fallow with annual legumes as green manure [i.e. ‘green fallow’ (GF)] has been proposed as a soil conserving and more bio-resource efficient alternative to bare fallow. We conducted a 6-year study to compare the influence of four GF-W, a F-W and a continuous W (Cont. W) system, on soil microbial communities, microbial biomass (MB) and activities in an Orthic Brown Chernozem, silt loam (Aridic Haploboroll) at Swift Current, Sask., Canada. The four GF legumes used were black lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), Tangier flatpea (Lathyrus tingitanus L.), chickling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.) and feedpea (Pisum sativum L.). They were grown to full bloom and then incorporated with a tandem disk. Analysis of soil taken from 0 to 10 cm depth after growing wheat in the sixth year of the experiment (i.e. 15 months after the most recent legume GF had been turned under) showed that most of the soil biochemical and microbiological attributes assessed were significantly improved (compared to F-W) by increasing cropping intensity (Cont. W), and even more by using the GF systems. The average improvement gained from the four GF legumes relative to F-W, was 385% for number of bacteria, 210% for filamentous fungi, 170% for MB-C, 191% for MB-N, 205% for cumulative C mineralization in 30 days at 21 °C, 202% for dehydrogenase, 171% for phosphatase, and 287% for arylsulfatase activity. The biologically active C and N, when expressed as ratios of MB-C or MB-N to total soil C or N, increased from 1.6 and 2.0% in F-W to 1.9 and 2.6% in Cont. W and to an average of 2.4 and 3.5% in GF-W. A sensitivity analysis (ratio of other treatment values to value for F-W) showed that Cont. W, and the GF-W systems even more, increased all major soil biological attributes tested. Among the GF systems, lentil-W consistently increased sensitivity the most, while Tangier flatpea-W usually increased it the least. The dynamic direct and indirect microbiological attributes were more sensitive indicators of changes in soil productivity than total organic C or N. The sensitivity of the attributes decreased in the sequence: Bacteria>Arylsulfatase>Filamentous fungi≈Cumulative C mineralization≈Dehydrogenase>MB-N>Phosphatase≈MB-C. Compared to the earlier published sensitivities of select physical and chemical attributes of soil quality to these same agronomic treatments, the microbiological attributes proved to be far more sensitive and more responsive to the beneficial influence of legume green fallowing in this semiarid loam.     

Organic matter accumulation and fertilizer-induced acidification interact to affect soil microbial and enzyme activity on a long-term sugarcane management experiment

The effects of crop residue management and fertilizer applications on the size and activity of the microbial community and the activity of exocellular enzymes involved in mineralization of C, N, P and S were examined on a long-term (60 years) field trial under sugarcane situated at Mount Edgecombe, South Africa. Treatments at the site included pre-harvest burning with harvest residues removed (B), burning with harvest residues (unburnt tops) left on the soil surface (B_t) and green cane harvesting with retention of a trash blanket (T). Plots were either fertilized annually with N, P and K or unfertilized. The size and activity of the microbial community and the activity of soil enzymes assayed increased with increasing inputs of crop residues (B < B_t < T) and this effect was evident to a depth of 30 cm. The metabolic quotient was decreased by inputs of both crop residues and fertilizers. Annual fertilizer additions did not affect basal respiration, increased fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis rate and acid phosphatase, invertase and protease activities and decreased arginine ammonification rate and dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, arylsulphatase and histidase activities. These effects were attributed to an interaction between the positive effect of fertilizer in increasing the size of the microbial biomass and the negative effect of fertilizer-N-induced soil acidification on microbial activity and on the activity of exocellular enzymes. Such results demonstrate the importance of using a range of measurements of microbial and enzyme activity when determining the effects of management on soil microbial and biochemical properties.     

洞庭湖区不同土地利用方式耕作土壤氮素含量与循环

通过对洞庭湖典型地区的密集采样分析和农户调查,研究了4种利用方式耕作土壤全N、微生物生物量氮(MB-N)含量、两者关系和N素循环特征。结果表明:耕作土壤全N、MB-N含量平均值为3.00±0.48g/kg和101.4±49.2mg/kg。双季稻、一季稻、水田旱作和旱地全N平均含量依次为3.12±0.40g/kg、3.03±0.39g/kg、2.79±0.43g/kg2、.10±0.46g/kg。4种利用方式的MB-N含量分别为124.0±56.6mg/kg、96.4±39.2mg/kg、108.0±48.6mg/kg、75.2±30.5mg/kg。除水田旱作外,MB-N与全N之间存在极显著的正相关关系(P<0.01)。土壤N素盈余量依次为双季稻(105.0kg/hm2.a)>一季稻(75.1kg/hm2.a)>水田旱作油菜(64.5kg/hm2.a)>旱地苎麻(51.9kg/hm2.a)。