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Calorimetry and Soil Biodegradation: Experimental Procedures and Thermodynamic Models

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Toxicity and Biodegradation Testing

Part of the book series: Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology ((MIPT))

Abstract

Calorimetry measures the heat flow of any chemical, physical, and biological reaction and it is considered an important tool in all those scientific disciplines. Calorimetry evolves and focuses on designing more and more sensitive instruments capable of monitoring the heat rate associated with practically all living systems including soil. To study soil, there are sorts of calorimeters designed as multichannel systems that can monitor up to 24 samples at the same time. Calorimetry detects the heat released by the microbial metabolism, using low quantities of soil for the experimental measurements, ranging now from 0.8 g to 5 g depending on the goal of the study, on the kind of soil, and also on the calorimeter type. Beyond this, calorimeters permit monitoring the soil microbial metabolism directly and continuously, without disturbing the sample during long periods of time, and without the need to culture organisms from the soil or to add radiolabeled or fluorescent substrates.

All these advantages promoted the opening of new research goals in soil science to improve the existing knowledge about soil microbial metabolism, by searching and applying alternative indicators of the soil microbial biochemistry that can be quantified by calorimetry. More recently, and as a consequence of the latest advances in the design of these instruments, studies to monitor the response of the soil microbial population to changing temperature are starting to be considered, due to the direct involvement of soil in the environmental impact of climate change.

This chapter aims to give a specific and detailed description about how to apply calorimetry to study the soil microbial metabolism, responsible for soil biodegradation and deeply involved in the global C cycle, with guidelines going from the experimental design to the application of thermodynamic models to study the soil microbial biochemistry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Nieves Barros Pena

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  1. Nieves Barros Pena
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Correspondence to Nieves Barros Pena .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biosciences Institute, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil

    Ederio Dino Bidoia

  2. Biosciences Institute, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil

    Renato Nallin Montagnolli

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Barros Pena, N. (2018). Calorimetry and Soil Biodegradation: Experimental Procedures and Thermodynamic Models. In: Bidoia, E., Montagnolli, R. (eds) Toxicity and Biodegradation Testing. Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7425-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7425-2_7

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7424-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7425-2

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