Abstract
Samples of chernozem and brown soils were irradiated with gamma rays using doses of 1.5 to 4.5 Mrad, or fractionally autoclaved at 1 and 2 kp/cm2. Consumption of oxygen by cellular suspensions of bacteria added to suspensions of sterilized soils was higher than in untreated samples. The increased oxygen consumption indicated an increase in the quantity of a biologically oxidizable substrate which could be released during the irradiation or autoclaving of soils. The amount of oxygen consumed was proportional to the radiation dose or autoclaving time and the pressure used, and was dependent also on the type of soil. The accessible substrate could be immediately, without a lag phase, oxidized by the added microorganism. The extent and rate of oxygen consumption in the sterilized soil samples varied in different microorganisms. It was observed that decomposition of vanillie acid by a cell suspension ofCellulomonas sp. was stimulated in the soil sterilized by radiation. The significance of these findings for the soil metabolic studies is discussed.
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Kunc, F. Respiration and metabolic processes of bacteria in autoclaved and gamma-irradiated soil. Folia Microbiol 19, 218–228 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895021
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895021