Amino Sugars and Muramic Acid—Biomarkers for Soil Microbial Community Structure Analysis
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Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36 (2004) 399–407 www.elsevier.com/locate/soilbio Amino sugars and muramic acid—biomarkers for soil microbial community structure analysis Bruno Glasera,*, Marı´a-Bele´n Turrio´nb, Kassem Alefc aInstitute of Soil Science and Soil Geography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth D-95440, Germany bArea of Soil Science and Soil Chemistry, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, Palencia 34004, Spain cUmwelt und Technologie Consulting, Bayreuth D-95448, Germany Received 13 December 2002; received in revised form 22 July 2003; accepted 7 October 2003 Abstract Characterizing functional and phylogenetic microbial community structure in soil is important for understanding the fate of microbially- derived compounds during the decomposition and turn-over of soil organic matter. This study was conducted to test whether amino sugars and muramic acid are suitable biomarkers to trace bacterial, fungal, and actinomycetal residues in soil. For this aim, we investigated the pattern, amounts, and dynamics of three amino sugars (glucosamine, mannosamine and galactosamine) and muramic acid in the total microbial biomass and selectively cultivated bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes offive different soils amended with and without glucose. Our results revealed that total amino sugar and muramic acid concentrations in microbial biomass, extracted from soil after chloroform fumigation varied between 1 and 27 mg kg21 soil. In all soils investigated, glucose addition resulted in a 50–360% increase of these values. In reference to soil microbial biomass-C, the total amino sugar- and muramic acid-C concentrations ranged from 1–71 g C kg21 biomass-C. After an initial lag phase, the cultivated microbes revealed similar amino sugar concentrations of about 35, 27 and 17 g glucosamine-C kg21 TOC in bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes, respectively. Mannosamine and galactosamine concentrations were lower than those for glucosamine. Mannosamine was not found in actinomycete cultures. The highest muramic acid concentrations were found in bacteria, but small amounts were also found in actinomycete cultures. The concentrations of the three amino sugars studied and muramic acid differed significantly between bacteria and the other phylogenetic microbial groups under investigation (fungi and actinomycetes). Comparison between the amino sugar and muramic acid concentrations in soil microbial biomass, extracted after chloroform fumigation, and total concentrations in the soil showed that living microbial biomass contributed negligible amounts to total amino sugar contents in the soil, being at least two orders of magnitude greater in the soils than in the soil inherent microbial biomass. Thus, amino sugars are significantly stabilized in soil. q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Biomarker; Amino sugar; Muramic acid; Microbial community structure; Microbial biomass; Microbial necromass 1. Introduction is known that a diversity of populations with different Microbial biomass has been defined as the part of soil biochemical characteristics are present. organic matter (SOM) which constitutes living microorgan- Several methods have been applied to estimate the isms smaller than 5–10 mm3. It contributes between 1 and microbial biomass in soil (Alef and Nannipieri, 1995). The 5% of SOM (Alef and Nannipieri, 1995). The importance of chloroform fumigation extraction (CFE) method has several estimating soil microbial biomass is related to its function as advantages in comparison with other methods such as time a pool for the delivery of plant nutrients, its role in soil and resource intensity of the analysis (Joergensen, 1996), structure formation and stabilization and as a marker for soil being applicable immediately after substrate addition to a fertility and sustainability (Smith and Paul, 1990). Esti- soil, in the organic layers of soils, in acid soils and in water- mations of the microbial biomass have usually involved logged soils. With the CFE method, soil microorganisms die treatment of the biomass as a single component, although it after their cell membranes are attacked by chloroform fume. Microbial constituents, especially in the cytoplasm, are * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ49-921-552254; fax: þ49-921-552246. degraded by enzymatic autolysis and transformed into E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Glaser). extractable components. 0038-0717/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2003.10.013 400 B. Glaser et al. / Soil Biology & Biochemistry 36 (2004) 399–407 Strategies for community structure analysis comprise among five different soil samples under pasture vegetation, laboratory cultivation techniques and those based on direct whereas in the present paper the data shown correspond only extraction and analysis of indicator molecules (Ogram and to one soil sample which was incubated with and without Feng, 1997). We used amino sugars as biomarkers because glucose. these compounds are part of the cell wall of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes (Amelung, 2001; Joergensen et al., 1995; Kandeler et al., 2000). Bacterial cell walls contain a 2.2. Selective cultivation of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes peptidoglycan, constructed of the glucose derivatives N- and soil microbial community acetyl glucosamine and muramic acid. The peptidoglycan structure is present only in prokaryotes, and has never been We consulted the bibliography about the determination found in eukaryotic cells. In gram-positive bacteria, as much of microbial biomass, and there was ambiguity about the as 90% of the cell wall consists of peptidoglycan, whereas in time of pre-incubation of soils. To determine microbial gram-negative bacteria this figure is only 5–20% (Brock biomass several authors have pre-incubated the soils only and Madigan, 1988). It is thought that fungi contain only for 1 week (Beck et al., 1997; Tsai et al., 1997) observing a glucosamine and galactosamine (Cochran and Vercellotti, complete recovery of the microbial biomass. Additionally, it 1978). Also, invertebrate exoskeletons contain chitin, an was not clear whether there was enough labile SOM in the N-acetyl glucosamine polymer (Chantigny et al., 1997). non-glucose-amended soils for 2 weeks of incubation. Moreover, glucosamine has been found in earthworm gut Therefore, prior to the extraction of extractable and viable lining, nematode egg shells, mollusc polysacharides, and in microbes, the air-dried soil (,2 mm) was incubated at field snail gelatin (Amelung, 2001). Nevertheless, the concen- capacity and room temperature (25 8C) for 1 week. Moist trations of amino sugars and muramic acid are routinely soil (10 g) was then extracted with 90 ml of 50 mM Tris applied to indicate microbial contributions to SOM (Zhang buffer at pH 7.5 by ultrasonication using a total energy input et al., 1999; Amelung, 2001; Solomon et al., 2001; Turrio´n of 4500 J, as suggested by Ramsay (1984). An aliquot (1 ml) et al., 2002). Furthermore, the ratios of amino sugars and of each soil suspension was spread over the surface of agar muramic acid have been used to characterize the contri- plates which contained different growth media and incu- bution of microbial residues to SOM. As examples, the ratio bated at 36 8C in five replicates. All microbes were of glucosamine to galactosamine was used to indicate the cultivated on solid media containing 10 ml of a trace relative contribution of fungal-derived sugars, whilst the element solution per liter as proposed by Alef and ratio of glucosamine to muramic acid was used to eva- Nannipieri (1995). A standard II agar with actidione luate the fate of bacterial-derived SOM (Amelung et al., (cycloheximide; 100 mg dm23) to inhibit fungal growth 1999; Amelung, 2001). However, up to now it remains was used as a selective media for the cultivation of bacteria. unclear whether applying these ratios is valid. Fungi were selectively grown on Sabouraud 2% glucose Therefore, the objectives of this study were (1) to agar containing 100 mg dm23 streptomycin as a bactericide. ascertain if amino sugars are suitable indicators for the Actinomycetes were grown on a chitinous mineral salt agar determination of microbial biomass and/or necromass in 23 23 23 (1 g dm chitin, 1 g dm NH4Cl, 0.1 g dm MgCl2, soil, (2) to investigate whether amino sugar patterns allow a 20 mM phosphate buffer adjusted to pH 6.8). Rose bengal differentiation between bacterial, fungal and actinomycetal (40 mg dm23), actidione (100 mg dm23) and streptomycin contributions in soil, and (3) to evaluate the variability of (100 mg dm23) were added to suppress bacterial and fungal these indicator concentrations in microbial biomass isolated growth. from different soil types. 2.3. Chloroform fumigation extraction (CFE) 2. Materials and methods Previous to the extraction of the microbial biomass, air 2.1. Selected soils dried soil (,2 mm) was incubated at field capacity and room temperature (25 8C) for 1 week. A second sample set To cover a wide range of different soil habitats, the upper was prepared by the addition of 100 mg glucose, to 10 cm of five well characterized soils differing in basic soil stimulate microbial activity. Chloroform fumigation of the properties (Table 1) were used. Soil 1 was a Vertisol from soils released microbial cytoplasm into the soil environ- the North American Great Plains (Amelung et al., 1997). ment. After subsequent extraction of the cell material with Soils 2 and 3 were highly weathered soils of the humid 0.5 M K2SO4 (Vance et al., 1987), total organic carbon tropics (Glaser et al., 2000a, 2001). Soil 4 represented a (TOC) was quantified as a reference for the microbial typical central European Hortisol (Glaser et al., 1998) and biomass. The microbial biomass was calculated by biomass ¼ = ; Soil 5 was from a high mountain ecosystem of Central Asia C EC kEC where EC is the organic C extracted from (Glaser et al., 2000b; Turrio´n et al., 2000, 2002). The amino fumigated soil minus that extracted from non-fumigated soil sugar results that appear in Turrio´n et al. (2002) are the mean and kEC is the extractable part of microbial biomass C after B.