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Factors for Conversion of the Content of Double-Stranded DNA to Carbon of Soil Microbial Biomass

  • SOIL MICROBIOME UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT
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Abstract—

The relationship between the concentration of soil DNA and microbial biomass determined by the method of substrate-induced respiration was studied in a wide range of soils differing in particle size distribution, acidity, organic carbon content, microbial biomass, and type of human activity in antiquity and at the present time. Calcaric Leptosols and Leptic Phaeozems of medieval agricultural lands in the Central Caucasus, Stratozems of agricultural terraces of the late Middle Ages—Modern times in the middle mountain zone of the Eastern Caucasus, as well as Kastanozems and Solonetzes with different grazing intensity in the dry steppe zone (Rostov region) were chosen as the key sites. It was shown that the determination of soil double-stranded DNA concentration is a reliable and simple method for determining microbial biomass in soils with a loamy texture, the organic carbon content < 2%, and the microbial biomass <700 µg C/g dry soil. The conversion factor FDNA in such soils varied in a narrow range from 5.24 to 5.41. In soils with a high content of organic carbon, an increase in FDNA (6.56 and 10.56) was observed due to the presence of recalcitrant extracellular DNA. Agristratified soil of sandy loamy texture was characterized by a lower degree of double-stranded DNA preservation, which resulted in a decrease in the determined microbial biomass (FDNA = 4.22). A reduced conversion factor FDNA (4.78) was also found in the soils of pastures in the dry steppe zone, which confirms the known limitations of using the substrate-induced respiration method in alkaline soils. Human activity did not significantly affect the relationship between the amount of soil DNA and microbial biomass.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 22-68-00010, https://rscf.ru/project/22-68-00010. Materials obtained during the work on state assignment no. 0191-2019-0046 were used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, 142290, Pushchino, Russia

    E. V. Chernysheva & A. V. Borisov

  2. Soliomics, 33100, Udine, Italy

    F. Fornasier

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  1. E. V. Chernysheva
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Correspondence to E. V. Chernysheva.

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Translated by D. Konyushkov

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Chernysheva, E.V., Fornasier, F. & Borisov, A.V. Factors for Conversion of the Content of Double-Stranded DNA to Carbon of Soil Microbial Biomass. Eurasian Soil Sc. 56, 672–681 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229323600021

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