Summary
A method of assessing the enzymatic hydrolysis of ester sulphate in soil organic matter was developed. Soil organic matter extracted using a mild, chelating resin extraction procedure was incubated with a sulphatase from Helix pomatia in 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer (pH 4–8) at 37°C for 2h and the sulphate released was determined by a high performance liquid chromatography-conductivity detector system. The effect of some soil factors on the enzymatic hydrolysis of ester sulphate was examined. The study showed that part of the ester sulphate in soil organic matter was biochemically reactive. In the three Podzols studied, the ester sulphate hydrolysed accounted for 2%–12% of the hydriodic acid-reducible organic sulphate extracted. The largest amount of hydrolysable ester sulphate was found in the soil with a low pH, high inorganic sulphate and high hydriodic acid-reducible organic sulphate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams TM, Lane PW (1984) A comparison of four methods of analysing aqueous soil extracts for sulphate. J Sci Food Agric 35:740–744
Appiah MR, Ahenkorah Y (1989) Determination of available sulphate in some soils of Ghana using five extraction methods. Biol Fertil Soils 8:80–86
Blair G, Lefroy RDB (1991) A new S soil test for crops and pastures. In: Abstracts of International Symposium on Soil Testing and Plant Analysis in the Global Community, Aug 22–27, 1991, Orlando, Florida. Council on Soil Testing and Plant Analysis, Athens, Georgia, USA, p 20
Cooper PJM (1972) Arylsulfatase activity in Northern Nigerian soils. Soil Biol Biochem 4:333–337
David MB, Schindler SC, Mitchell MJ, Strick JE (1983) Importance of organic and inorganic sulfur to mineralization processes in a forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 15:671–677
Dodgson KS, Rose FA (1975) Sulfohydrolases. In: Greenberg DM (ed) Metabolic pathways, 3rd edn. Vol VII. Metabolism of sulfur compounds. Academic Press. New York, pp 359–431
Fitzgerald JW (1976) Sulfate ester formation and hydrolysis: A potentially important yet often ignored aspect of the sulfur cycle of aerobic soils. Bacteriol Rev 40:698–721
Fitzgerald JW, Ash JT, Strickland TC, Swank WT (1983) Formation of organic sulfur in forest soils: A biologically mediated process. Can J For Res 13:1077–1082
Fitzgerald JW, Watwood ME, Rose FA (1985) Forest floor and soil arylsulphatase: Hydrolysis of tyrosine sulphate, an environmentally relevent substrate for the enzyme. Soil Biol Biochem 17:885–887
Freney JR (1986) Forms and reactions of organic sulfur compounds in soils. In: Tabatabai MA (ed) Sulfur in agriculture. Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 207–232
Freney JR, Melville GE, Williams CH (1969) Extraction, chemical nature, and properties of soil organic sulfur. J Sci Food Agric 20:440–445
Hoque S, Heath SB, Killham K (1987) Evaluation of methods to assess adequacy of potential soil S supply to crops. Plant and Soil 101:3–8
Houghton C, Rose FA (1976) Liberation of sulfate from sulfate esters by soils. Appl Environ Microbiol 31:969–976
Kowalenko CG, Lowe WE (1975) Mineralization of sulfur from four soils and its relationship with carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Can J Soil Sci 55:9–14
Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, 2nd edn Part II. Chemical and microbiological properties. Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 539–579
Sarathchandra SU, Perrott KW (1981) Determination of phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 13:543–545
Speir TW, Ross DJ (1978) Soil phosphatase and sulphatase. In: Burns RG (ed) Soil enzymes. Academic Press, London, pp 197–250
Tabatabai MA (1982) Sulfur. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, 2nd edn. Part II. Chemical and microbiological properties. Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 501–538
Tabatabai MA, Bremner JM (1970) Arylsulfatase activity of soils. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 34:225–229
Tabatabai MA, Bremner JM (1972) Distribution of total and available sulfur in selected soils and soil profiles. Agron J 64:40–44
Warman PR, Bishop C (1985) The use of reverse-phase HPLC for soil amino-N analysis. J Liquid Chromatogr 8:2595–2606
Warman PR, Sampson HG (1992) Evaluation of soil sulfate extractants and methods of analysis for plant available sulfur. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 23:793–803
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lou, G., Warman, P.R. Enzymatic hydrolysis of ester sulphate in soil organic matter extracts. Biol Fertil Soils 14, 112–115 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336259
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336259