The true composition of soil organic matter and soil carbon processes are very complex. Accurately distinguishing carbon components in soil is the bottleneck of current research. Molecular markers with certain specificity and stability can be used as an important methods to distinguish different carbon pools, e.g., amino sugars, phospholipid fatty acids and lignin. Apart from these, What other molecular markers do you know?
Have a look at some interesting and relevaent work...
Lipid biomarkers for assessment of microbial communities in floodplain soils of the Elbe River (Germany),Wetlands volume 29, pages353–362(2009)Cite this article
- Abstract: Two long-term submerged Eutric Gleysols (GLe) and two short-term flooded Eutric Fluvisols (FLe) with high organic carbon contents (Corg between 5.1 and 12.9%) were selected to characterize soil microbial communities at the Elbe River (Germany). Measurements included dehydrogenase activity (DHA), soil microbial carbon (Cmic), soil basal respiration (BR), metabolic quotient (qCO2), Cmic/Corg ratio, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA). PLFA biomass, DHA, and Cmic/Corg ratios were considerable lower in GLe’s than in FLe’s. Whereas the BR as well as qCO2 were higher in GLe’s what seems to be an unspecific response of aerobic soil microorganisms to the long flooding period and the resulting short time for development following flooding. Cmic/Corg ratios were low in comparison to terrestrial soils. PLFA profiles were dominated by saturated fatty acids (FA). Principal component analyses (PCA) of FAs revealed clear differences among the four floodplain soils. In GLe’s all fractions of PLFAs were lower than in FLe’s. Polyunsaturated FA biomarkers (18:2ω6,9c) were 10 times lower in GLe’s. Our results indicate that the environmental conditions in which microorganisms are exposed (i.e., long term soil inundation and anoxia) seem to be disadvantageous for fungi.
- Tracing the sources and spatial distribution of organic carbon in subsoils using a multi-biomarker approach GerritAngst1, Stephan John2, CarstenW. Mueller1, Ingrid Kögel-Knabner1,3 & Janet Rethemeyer2 Scientific Reports | 6:29478 | DOI: 10.1038/srep29478
- Abstract: Soil organic carbon (SOC) from aboveground and belowground sources has rarely been differentiated although it may drive SOC turnover and stabilization due to a presumed differing source dependent degradability. It is thus crucial to better identify the location of SOC from different sources for the parameterization of SOC models, especially in the less investigated subsoils. The aim of this study was to spatially assess contributions of organic carbon from aboveground and belowground parts of beech trees to subsoil organic carbon in a Dystric Cambisol. Different sources of SOC were distinguished by solvent-extractable and hydrolysable lipid biomarkers aided by 14C analyses of soil compartments
Dear Xingde Xu, please have look into a review published by Prof. Wulf Amelung and his colleagues a couple of years ago: Article Chapter 6 Combining Biomarker with Stable Isotope Analyses f...
Best regards
Nils
When it comes to C-cycling and the impact of microbiota, you should consider determining the very general but informative parameters microbial biomass carbon (determined with chloroform fumigation-extraction) and microbial base respiration. This enables you to caculate the microbial quotient (MBC/OC) and the metabolic quotient (qCO2 = respiration/MBC).
Many thanks to Anoop Kumar Srivastava Nils Borchard and Thiele-Bruhn Sören for their helpful answers. There is no doubt that this work is worth our constant exploration. I also want to provide a recently published literature that revealed the impact of climate warming on topsoil and subsoil carbon dynamics through a combination of different biomarkers.
Is there any headway towards identifying biomarkers in form different soi microbial communities in relation to climate change under s given agroclimatic setup and land use .
In my research background, I think, glomalin is a component of soil N cycle. It is released by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In soil, glomalin is defined as glomalin-related soil protein, which is a soil organic carbon pool.
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