There are several ways to sterilize soil, all having certain advantages and disadvantages. (i) autoclaving (killing of vegetative cells), then let the soil sit for 48 hours at room temperature (to give spores a chance to germinate), autoclaving for a second time. However, this procedure might destroy the structure of the soil completely and change chemical properties (e.g., redox conditions); (ii) gamma radiation (needs a radioactive source) is minimally invasive, but leads also to altered chemical conditions; (iii) gassing by e.g., ozone. Soil properties (e.g. high clay content, humidity) might inhibit gas permeation. But as far as I understood your question you want to remove the bacterial biomass (?). What about using chloroform fumigation (which kills the microbial biomass) followed by extraction with a solution of potassium sulfate? This technique is applied to determine microbial biomass in soil. See some “old” literature e.g., Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19:703-707, 1987.

Surjit are you interested in removing any specific bacteria. Is there any specific reason for thsi removal. As the rhizosphere is having a huge bacterial population and this is necessary for any productive soil. Rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated soil microorganisms. Soil which is not part of the rhizosphere is bulk soil. Protozoa and nematodes that graze on bacteria are also more abundant in the rhizosphere. Thus, much of the nutrient cycling and disease suppression needed by plants occurs immediately adjacent to roots. so why do you want to kill these?

When you say "eradicate" do you mean that you want to remove all the remains of the killed bacteria? In this case, is it acceptable to remove all organic matter from soil or just the organic matter coming from bacteria? If the second case is what you are trying to do I do not think it will be possible (you may use many separation techniques, but it will not be that easy to be selective on bacteria only). But you can analyze residual organic matter in order to identify its provenance, if you wish.

There are several ways to sterilize soil, all having certain advantages and disadvantages. (i) autoclaving (killing of vegetative cells), then let the soil sit for 48 hours at room temperature (to give spores a chance to germinate), autoclaving for a second time. However, this procedure might destroy the structure of the soil completely and change chemical properties (e.g., redox conditions); (ii) gamma radiation (needs a radioactive source) is minimally invasive, but leads also to altered chemical conditions; (iii) gassing by e.g., ozone. Soil properties (e.g. high clay content, humidity) might inhibit gas permeation. But as far as I understood your question you want to remove the bacterial biomass (?). What about using chloroform fumigation (which kills the microbial biomass) followed by extraction with a solution of potassium sulfate? This technique is applied to determine microbial biomass in soil. See some “old” literature e.g., Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19:703-707, 1987.

Sir actually i want to quantify the available arsenic present in soil and for that i want to remove the living population of soil which includes all types of bacteria fungus and other organisms.

But suppose the microorganisms is able to accumulate arsenic in its body then by killing it i will be able to inhibit its growth but the bacteria will still present in the soil with the arsenic consisting in its body so while quantifying soil for arsenic determination the bacterial body will also plays an important role and that will increase the arsenic concentration so how to get rid of this problem?

Hi, I want to see the arsenic content present in the soil before adding the bacterial culture to it and after removing bacterial culture from it. the soil is sterile soil to which arsenic accumulating bacteria is mixed.

Dear Surjit,

Please see the below given link for your appropriate answer.

https://dec.alaska.gov/spar/csp/guidance/cleanup_methods.pdf

https://dec.alaska.gov/spar/csp/guidance/cleanup_methods.pdf

https://dec.alaska.gov/spar/csp/guidance/cleanup_methods.pdf

Best Regards

Krishna