Role of Enzymes in Maintaining Soil Health

Das, Shonkor Kumar; Varma, Ajit

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-14225-3_2

Cited by 174 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Table 1 shows some of the common soil enzymes that can be used as biological soil quality indicators. Adapted from Das and Varma (2010) Soil enzyme activity can be estimated and serve as a valuable pointer to nutrient cycling potential, nitrification, oxidation, and other processes crucial to soil quality (Almeida et al, 2015). This review therefore focuses on the enzymes β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease, known to play crucial roles in C, P and N cycling respectively, which are important nutrients for plant growth and microbial metabolism.…”

Section: General Characteristics and Use Of Soil Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The urease enzyme acts by aiding the hydrolysis of urea into CO 2 and NH 3, which leads to a rise in soil pH and nitrogen loss to the atmosphere through NH 3 volatilization (Das and Varma, 2010). Urease also catalyzes the hydrolysis of hydroxyurea, dihydroxyurea, and semicarbazide, with nickel as a co-factor (Alef and Nannipieri, 1995).…”

Section: Characteristics and Role Of Ureasementioning

confidence: 99%

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The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

Adetunji

Lewu

Mulidzi

et al. 2017

J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr.

353

156

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Soil is a fundamental resource and it is crucial to manage its quality in order to enhance agricultural productivity and environmental quality. Soil enzymes catalyze several biochemical reactions which result in the transformation of organic matter, and the release of inorganic nutrients for plant growth and nutrient cycling. Soil enzyme activities are useful biological soil quality indicators since they are operationally practical, very sensitive, integrative, easy to measure and more responsive to soil tillage and structure than other soil variables. There are several enzymes in soil, but those involved in hydrolases and the degradation of main litter components are used most often for evaluating soil quality. This paper reviews the roles of soil enzymes such as β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease, as well as the implications of their activities for soil quality.

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Section: General Characteristics and Use Of Soil Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Characteristics and Role Of Ureasementioning

confidence: 99%

The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

Adetunji

Lewu

Mulidzi

et al. 2017

J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr.

353

156

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They are direct measures of the biological metabolism of soil biota (Burns et al, 2013;Das and Varma, 2011;Dick and Kandeler, 2005). Their activities can indicate microbial activity, decay rates, and availability of substrates for microbial or plant uptake (Garcia-Gil et al, 2000;Lagomarsino et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of absolute and specific soil enzyme activities to long term additions of organic and mineral fertilizer

Zhang

Dong

Dai

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

168

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• Acid phosphatase activity was negatively correlated with soil pH and P content.• βG, NAG, and LAP activities were positively correlated with SOC and Total N contents.• The four enzyme activities were significantly higher under manure than NPK fertilizer.• Enzyme activities were positively correlated with actinomycete and G + bacterium.• We recommend reducing P fertilizer application rates to subtropical paddy soils. G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C Ta b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Long-term phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) applications may seriously affect soil microbial activity. A long-term field fertilizer application trial was established on reddish paddy soils in the subtropical region of southern China in 1998. We assessed the effects of swine manure and seven different rates or ratios of NPK fertilizer treatments on (1) the absolute and specific enzyme activities per unit of soil organic carbon (SOC) or microbial biomass carbon (MBC) involved in C, N, and P transformations and (2) their relationships with soil environmental factors and soil microbial community structures. The results showed that manure applications led to increases in the absolute and specific activities of soil β-1,4-glucosidase(βG), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP). The absolute and specific acid phosphatase (AP) activities decreased as mineral P fertilizer application rates and ratios increased. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that there were negative correlations between absolute and specific AP activities, pH, and total P contents, while there were positive correlations between soil absolute and specific βG, NAG, and LAP enzyme activities, and SOC and total N contents. RDA showed that the contents of actinomycete and Gram-positive bacterium PLFA biomarkers are more closely related to the absolute and specific enzyme activities than the other PLFA biomarkers (P b 0.01). Our results suggest that both the absolute and specific enzyme activities could be used as sensitive soil quality indicators that provide useful linkages with the microbial community structures and environmental factors. To maintain microbial activity and to minimize environmental impacts, P should be applied as a combination of inorganic and organic forms, and total P fertilizer application rates to subtropical paddy soils should not exceed 44 kg P ha −1 year −1 .

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“…Soil dehydrogenase activity was measured using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazollium chloride as the electron acceptor according to the method defined by Casida et al [38]. Phosphatase, arylsulfatase and β-glucosidase activities were determined as described by Tabatabai [39], using p-nitrophenyl phosphate, p-nitrophenyl sulfate and p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside as substrates, respectively.…”

Section: Soil Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Soil Health in Urban Agriculture: Soil Enzymes and Microbial Properties

et al. 2017

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Urban agriculture has been recently highlighted with the increased importance for recreation in modern society; however, soil quality and public health may not be guaranteed because of continuous exposure to various pollutants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the soil quality of urban agriculture by soil microbial assessments. Two independent variables, organic and inorganic fertilizers, were considered. The activities of soil enzymes including dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, urease, alkaline and acid phosphatases were used as indicators of important microbial mediated functions and the soil chemical properties were measured in the soils applied with organic or inorganic fertilizer for 10 years. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis was applied to determine the soil microbial community composition. Relatively higher microbial community richness and enzyme activities were found in the organic fertilizers applied soils as compared to the inorganic fertilizers applied soils. Principal component analysis explained the positive influence of organic fertilizers on the microbial community. The application of organic fertilizers can be a better alternative compared to inorganic fertilizers for the long-term health and security of urban agriculture.

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Role of Enzymes in Maintaining Soil Health

Cited by 174 publications

References 65 publications

The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

Responses of absolute and specific soil enzyme activities to long term additions of organic and mineral fertilizer

Assessment of Soil Health in Urban Agriculture: Soil Enzymes and Microbial Properties

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Role of Enzymes in Maintaining Soil Health

Cited by 174 publications

References 65 publications

The biological activities of &#946;-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

The biological activities of &#946;-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

Responses of absolute and specific soil enzyme activities to long term additions of organic and mineral fertilizer

Assessment of Soil Health in Urban Agriculture: Soil Enzymes and Microbial Properties

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The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review

The biological activities of β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease as soil quality indicators: a review