Any technique could detect the degree of litter decomposed by microbes? Or any indexes could do this job? I want to split the contribution of microbes during decomposition, so any suggestions are appreciated.
Dear Dr. @Sen Yang,
You can do a biodegradability test. Briefly, the material to be decomposed must be subjected to a respirametry test or a test with a "litter bag". In respiration, the incubation time is 28 days and the CO2 emission rate is the indicator of the material's degradability.
Please more information, see the OECD guideline: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/revised-introduction-to-the-oecd-guidelines-for-testing-of-chemicals-section-3_5l9kd893rznw.pdf%3FitemId%3D%252Fcontent%252Fpublication%252F9789264030213-en%26mimeType%3Dpdf&ved=2ahUKEwiDvbqY2YHvAhVOGLkGHfJTCJgQFjALegQIDxAC&usg=AOvVaw3ul0qvucd7xGKOpZtAyCd5
Dear Dr. Adijailton Jose de Souza , thanks so much for your reply. Actually what I wanna do isn't to test the biodegradability of litter samples, but to detect or indicate the degree of litter decomposed by microbes. I've conducted a litter bag field experiment and collected the samples, and I wanna compare the biotic-driven decomposing processes under different treatment levels. I've read someone used the 13C/12C ratio to indicate the degree of microbial decomposition considering the fractionation of carbon during decomposition, and I just wonder if any other methods could do this job?
Dear Dr. Sen Yang ,
See the work below. The authors used DNA-SIP to analyze the microbial community associated with sugarcane via assimilation of 13C by microbial cells. It is not quite what you intend to do, but it can give you insight into how to do your research.
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12476
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