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Urease Activity and Its Kinetics in Selected Benchmark Soils of Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A study was undertaken in the established benchmark (BM) soil series in different agro-ecological sub-regions of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGPs), India with an objective to assess the urease activity and its kinetics at different soil depths. The urease activity declined with increase in soil depth in all the selected BM soils of IGP. The mean urea hydrolysis in the surface horizon (0–30 cm; 18.2 µg \( {\text{NH}}_{4}^{ + } \)/h) was 2.6-folds higher than the sub-surface horizon (121–150 cm; 7.01 µg \( {\text{NH}}_{4}^{ + } \)/h). The enzyme velocity (V max ) and enzyme efficiency (K m /V max ) of urease hydrolysis were at par in surface and sub-surface horizons. The average K m value of urease enzyme in surface and sub-surface horizons were 4.53 and 3.96 mM, respectively. The coefficient of variation, K m for surface horizons showed higher variability and low affinity of soil urease towards substrate urea than the sub-surface horizon. Negative Pearson’s correlation coefficient was recorded between urease activity and soil depth (R = −0.86), while significant positive correlation was observed between urease activity with organic carbon (R = 0.81) and nitrogen (R = 0.81).

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Acknowledgments

This financial grant received from the World Bank sponsored “National Agricultural Innovation Project” (NAIP) (Component-4: Indian Council of Agricultural Research) on “Georeferenced Soil Information System for Land Use Planning and Monitoring Soil and Land Quality for Agriculture” is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are thankful to the Directors, NBAIM and NBSS and LUP for extending facilities to carry out this research work.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest between the authors on this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Mau, 275101, UP, India

    Ashutosh Kumar, Alok K. Srivastava & A. K. Sharma

  2. Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

    Kulandaivelu Velmourougane

  3. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use of Planning, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

    S. K. Mahapatra, T. H. Das, S. K. Reza, T. Bhattacharyya & D. Sarkar

  4. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use of Planning, Regional Centre, New Delhi, India

    Gurjant Singh Sidhu

  5. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use of Planning, Regional Centre, Udaipur, India

    R. S. Singh

  6. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use of Planning, Regional Centre, Kolkata, India

    A. K. Sahoo & K. Das

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  1. Ashutosh Kumar
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  2. Alok K. Srivastava
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  3. Kulandaivelu Velmourougane
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  5. S. K. Mahapatra
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  8. K. Das
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  9. T. H. Das
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  10. S. K. Reza
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  11. T. Bhattacharyya
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Correspondence to Alok K. Srivastava.

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Kumar, A., Srivastava, A.K., Velmourougane, K. et al. Urease Activity and Its Kinetics in Selected Benchmark Soils of Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 85, 407–413 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-014-0352-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-014-0352-5

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