Microbial Mineralization of Soil Organic Matter: Role of Chemical Composition and Structural Organization

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively assess the effect of organic matter self-assembly on its resistance to microbial mineralization. Humic acids isolated from leonardite, two peats and a mineral soil were used as organic matter samples because they provide a broad range of variability in terms of the origin and nature of their organic components. Using a solvent-based fractionation method, humic acid samples were disassembled into a humic-like component and a humic-lipid composite. The humic-lipid composite was further disassembled into an amphiphilic and a lipid component using an alkaline aqueous solution. Mixtures that reproduced the composition of self-assembled samples were prepared by mixing the solid individual fractions in the exact proportions that they were present in the original material. The original humic acids or their corresponding mixtures were added as the sole carbon source in separate aerobic cultures containing a microbial consortium isolated from a mineral soil. After incubation for 125 days mineralization of the self-assembled samples was shown to be higher by as much as 70% compared to their corresponding physical mixtures. The extent of mineralization of the self-assembled samples was not correlated to the material’s chemical composition or hydrophobicity index obtained from their ¹³C solid-state NMR spectra. In contrast, mineralization of the physical mixtures and the individual fractions did vary with chemical composition and was accompanied by preferential mineralization of alkyl carbon. These results suggest the microbial mineralization of humic acids is related to their self-assembly.