Both catabolic and anabolic heterotrophic microbial activity proceed in frozen soils.

ABSTRACT: A large proportion of the global soil carbon pool is stored in soils of high-latitude ecosystems in which microbial processes and production of greenhouse gases proceed during the winter months. It has been suggested that microorganisms have limited ability to sequester substrates at temperatures around and below 0 °C and that a metabolic shift to dominance of catabolic processes occurs around these temperatures. However, there are contrary indications that anabolic processes can proceed, because microbial growth has been observed at far lower temperatures. Therefore, we investigated the utilization of the microbial substrate under unfrozen and frozen conditions in a boreal forest soil across a temperature range from -9 °C to +9 °C, by using gas chromatography-isotopic ratio mass spectrome

SUBMITTER: Drotz SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3000251 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature