The microbial PLFA composition as affected by pH in an arable soil
Author
Summary, in English
The influence of soil pH on the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition of the microbial community was investigated along the Hoosfield acid strip, Rothamsted Research, UK - a uniform pH gradient between pH 8.3 and 4.5. The influence of soil pH on the total concentration of PLFAs was not significant, while biomass estimated using substrate induced respiration decreased by about 25%. However, the PLFA composition clearly changed along the soil pH gradient. About 40% of the variation in PLFA composition along the gradient was explained by a first principal component, and the sample scores were highly correlated to pH (R-2 = 0.97). Many PLFAs responded to pH similarly in the Hoosfield arable soil compared with previous assessments in forest soils, including, e.g. monounsaturated PLFAs 16:1 omega 5, 16:1 omega 7c and 18:1 omega 7, which increased in relative concentrations with pH, and i16:0 and cy19:0, both of which decreased with pH. Some PLFAs responded differently to pH between the soil types, e.g. br18:0. We conclude that soil pH has a profound influence on the microbial PLFA composition, which must be considered in all applications of this method to detect changes in the microbial community. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Publishing year
2010
Language
English
Pages
516-520
Publication/Series
Soil Biology & Biochemistry
Volume
42
Issue
3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Keywords
- Arable soil
- Hoosfield acid strip
- Microbial biomass
- pH gradient
- PLFA
- Microbial community composition
Status
Published
Project
- Interaction between fungi and bacteria in soil
- Carbon drivers and microbial agents of soil respiration
- Effect of environmental factors on fungal and bacterial growth in soil
- Microbial carbon-use efficiency
Research group
- Microbial Ecology
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0038-0717