Abstract
Highly managed turfgrass systems accumulate considerable soil organic C, which supports a diverse and robust soil microbial community. Degradation of this soil organic C is mediated by a suite of soil enzymes. The relationship between these enzyme activities and the quality of soil organic C is central to understanding the dynamics of soil organic matter. We examined the activities of several soil enzymes involved in microbial C acquisition, including β-glucosidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, cellulase, chitinase, and phenol oxidase, and characterized the chemical composition of soil organic matter using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in a turfgrass chronosequence (1–95 years old) and adjacent native pines. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the chemical composition of soil organic matter varied with turf age and land use (turf versus pines). Using the polysaccharide peak (1,060 cm−1) as a reference, both aliphatic (2,930 cm−1) and carboxylic (1,650 and 1,380 cm−1) compounds increased with turf age, indicating that soil organic matter became more recalcitrant. Soil enzyme activities per unit soil mass increased with turf age and were correlated to soil C content. Most soil enzyme activities in native pines were similar to those in young turf, but the cellulase activity was similar to or greater than the activity in old turfgrass systems. On a soil C basis, however, the activities of N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase and cellulase decreased with turf age; this reduction was correlated to the relative changes in the chemical composition of soil organic matter. We observed that the chemical composition of soil organic matter was significantly correlated with the enzyme activity profile when expressed per unit microbial biomass C, but not per unit soil organic C. Our results suggest that chemical composition of soil organic matter changes with turf age and this change partially determines the relative abundance of C-degrading soil enzymes, likely through the influence on microbial community composition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allison SD, Vitousek PM (2004) Extracellular enzyme activities and carbon chemistry as drivers of tropical plant litter decomposition. Biotropica 36:285–296
Andronopoulou E, Vorgias CE (2004) Multiple components and induction mechanism of the chitinolytic system of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus chitonophagus. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 65:694–702
Bandaranayake W, Qian YL, Parton WJ, Ojima DS, Follett RF (2003) Estimation of soil organic carbon changes in turfgrass systems using the CENTURY model. Agron J 95:558–563
Bandick AK, Dick RP (1999) Field management effects on soil enzyme activities. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1471–1479
Burns RG (1982) Enzyme activity in soil: location and a possible role in microbial ecology. Soil Biol Biochem 14:423–427
Chapman SJ, Campbell CD, Fraser AR, Puri G (2001) FTIR spectroscopy of peat in and bordering Scots pine woodland: relationship with chemical and biological properties. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1193–1200
Dick RP (1994) Soil enzyme activities as indicators of soil quality. In: Doran JW, Coleman DC, Bezdicek DF, Stewart BA (eds) Defining soil quality for a sustainable environment. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, pp107–124
Dick RP, Rasmussen D, Turco R (1996) Soil enzyme activities and biodiversity measurements as integrating biological indicators. In: Doran JW, Jones AJ (eds) Handbook of methods for assessment of soil quality. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, pp 247–272
Dighton J, Mascarenhas M, Arbuckle-Keil GA (2001) Changing resources: assessment of leaf litter carbohydrate resource change at a microbial scale of resolution. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1429–1432
Ekenler M, Tabatabai MA (2002) β-glucosaminidase activity of soils: effect of cropping systems and its relationship to nitrogen mineralization. Biol Fertil Soils 36:367–376
Galichet A, Sockalingum GD, Belarbi A, Manfait M (2001) FTIR spectroscopic analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell walls: study of an anomalous strain exhibiting a pink-colored cell phenotype. FEMS Microbiol Lett 197:179–186
Hassett JE, Zak DR (2005) Aspen harvest intensity decreases microbial biomass, extracellular enzyme activity, and soil nitrogen cycling. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:227–235
Hayashi N, Sugiyama J, Okano T, Ishihara M (1997) The enzymatic susceptibility of cellulose microfibrils of the algal-bacterial type and the cotton-ramie type. Carbohyd Res 305:261–269
Inbar Y, Chen Y, Hadar Y (1989) Solid-state carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy of composted organic matter. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1695–1701
Johnston CT, Aochi YO (1996) Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy. In: Sparks DL, Page AL, Helmke PA, Loeppert RH, Soltanpour PN, Tabatabai MA, Johnston CT, Sumner ME (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 3. Chemical methods. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, pp 269–321
Machuca A, Duran N (1993) Phenol oxidases production and wood degradation by a thermophilic fungus Thermoascus-aurantiacus. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 43:37–44
Morikawa Y, Ohashi T, Mantani O, Okada H (1995) Cellulase induction by lactose in Trichoderma reesi PC-3–7. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 44:106–111
Parham JA, Deng SP (2000) Detection, quantification and characterization of β-glucosaminidase activity in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1183–1190
Qian Y, Follett RF (2002) Assessing soil carbon sequestration in turfgrass systems using long-term soil testing data. Agron J 94:930–935
Rajarathnam S, Shashirekha MN, Rashmi S (2003) Biochemical changes associated with mushroom browning in Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach and Pleurotus florida (Block & Tsao): commercial implications. J Sci Food Agric 83:1531–1537
Rössner H (1996) Chitinase activity. In: Schinner F, Öhlinger R, Kandeler E, Margesin R (eds) Methods in soil biology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp 201–204
Saiya-Cork KR, Sinsabaugh RL, Zak DR (2002) The effects of long term nitrogen deposition on extracellular enzyme activity in an Acer saccharum forest soil. Soil Biol Biochem 34:1309–1315
Shi W, Yao H, Bowman D (2006a) Soil microbial biomass, activity and nitrogen transformations in a turfgrass chronosequence. Soil Biol Biochem 38:311–319
Shi W, Muruganandam S, Bowman D (2006b) Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen dynamics in a turfgrass chronosequence: a short-term response to turfgrass clipping addition. Soil Biol Biochem 38:2032–2042
Sinsabaugh RL, Antibus RK, Linkins AE (1991) An enzymic approach to the analysis of microbial activity during plant litter decomposition. Agric Ecosyst Environ 34:43–54
Sinsabaugh RL, Antibus RK, Linkins AE, McClaugherty CA, Rayburn L (1992) Wood decomposition over a first-order watershed: mass loss as a function of lignocellulase activity. Soil Biol Biochem 24:743–749
Sinsabaugh RL, Carreiro MM, Repert DA (2002) Allocation of extracellular enzymatic activity in relation to litter composition, N deposition and mass loss. Biogeochemistry 60:1–24
Six J, Conant RT, Paul EA, Paustian K (2002) Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: implications for C-saturation of soils. Plant Soil 241:155–176
Smucker RA, Kim CK (1987) Chitinase induction in an estuarine ecosystem. In: Llewellyn GC, O’Rear CE (eds) Biodeterioration research. Plenum Press, New York, pp 347–355
Sylvia DM, Fuhrmann JJ, Hartel PG, Zuberer DA (1999) Principles and applications of soil microbiology, 2nd edn. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 65pp
Turner BL, Hopkins DW, Haygarth PM, Ostle N (2002) β-Glucosidase activity in pasture soils. Appl Soil Ecol 20:157–162
von Mersi W, Schinner F (1996) CM-cellulase activity. In: Schinner F, Öhlinger R, Kandeler E, Margesin R (eds) Methods in soil biology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp 190–193
Waldrop MP, Balser TC, Firestone MK (2000) Linking microbial community composition to function in a tropical soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1837–1846
Wander MM, Traina SJ (1996) Organic matter fractions from organically and conventionally managed soils: II. characterization of composition. Soil Sci Soc Am J 60:1087–1094
Yao H, Bowman D, Shi W (2006) Soil microbial community structure and diversity in a turfgrass chronosequence: land-use change versus turfgrass management. Appl Soil Ecol 34:209–218
Acknowledgments
We thank the Center for Turfgrass Research and Education, North Carolina, USA for financial support and appreciate the assistance of Pinehurst Resort and Forest Creek Golf Club. We also thank Ms. Kim Hutchison for helping the FTIR analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shi, W., Dell, E., Bowman, D. et al. Soil enzyme activities and organic matter composition in a turfgrass chronosequence. Plant Soil 288, 285–296 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9116-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9116-1