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Microbiological aspects of soil structure

II. Soil aggregation by the extracellular polysaccharide ofLipomyces starkeyi

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Summary

Artificial soil aggregates amended with glucose show marked increase in stability when incubated on moist sand at 20°C. A prominent colonist of such aggregates is the yeast,Lipomyces starkeyi. This organism produces an extracellular polysaccharide which comprises 50 per cent of the material synthesized in pure culture. Both freeze-dried whole-cell preparations ofL. starkeyi and the purified polysaccharide are effective aggregating agents and an attempt has been made to relate the occurrence and polysaccharide production ofL. starkeyi to observed changes in stability of glucose treated aggregates. It does not at present seem possible to establish such a relationship and the difficulties involved are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Botany University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

    David Jones & Ellis Griffiths

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  1. David Jones
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  2. Ellis Griffiths
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Now at the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen.

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Jones, D., Griffiths, E. Microbiological aspects of soil structure. Plant Soil 27, 187–200 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01373389

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01373389

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