TY - JOUR
T1 - Alkaline Hydrolyzable Organic Nitrogen as an Index of Nitrogen Mineralization in Soils
T2 - Relationship with Activities of Arylamidase and Amidohydrolases
AU - Dodor, Daniel
AU - Tabatabai, M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - This study investigated the relationship between a recently proposed alkaline hydrolysis method for estimating the chemical index of nitrogen (N) mineralization potential of soils and the activities of arylamidase and four amidohydrolases involved in hydrolysis of organic N (ON) in soils. Nitrogen mineralization was studied in 13 soils from uncultivated fields in Iowa, USA, by direct steam distillation of 1 g field-most soil treated with 1 M KOH or 1 M NaOH. The distillate was collected in boric acids, which was changed every 5 min for a total of 40 min. The NH4+-N in the distillate was determined by titration with 0.005 M H2SO4. The cumulative amounts of N hydrolyzed were fitted to the first-order exponential equation to determine the “potentially hydrolyzable N (Nmax)” for the soils. The activities of arylamidase, L-asparaginase, L-glutaminase, amidase, and L-aspartase were assayed at their optimal pH values. Results showed that estimated Nmax values were strongly correlated with the activities of arylamidase and amidohydrolases. The activities of arylamidase and the amidohydrolases were significantly correlated, indicating that the activities of the two groups of enzymes are coupled in mineralization of ON in soils. Based on the specificity of enzyme reactions and the strong relationship between estimated Nmax values and the activities of arylamidase and amidohydrolases, we concluded that similar amide-N bonds were susceptible to enzymatic and alkaline hydrolysis, and that alkaline hydrolyzable ON can be used as an index of N mineralization in soils.
AB - This study investigated the relationship between a recently proposed alkaline hydrolysis method for estimating the chemical index of nitrogen (N) mineralization potential of soils and the activities of arylamidase and four amidohydrolases involved in hydrolysis of organic N (ON) in soils. Nitrogen mineralization was studied in 13 soils from uncultivated fields in Iowa, USA, by direct steam distillation of 1 g field-most soil treated with 1 M KOH or 1 M NaOH. The distillate was collected in boric acids, which was changed every 5 min for a total of 40 min. The NH4+-N in the distillate was determined by titration with 0.005 M H2SO4. The cumulative amounts of N hydrolyzed were fitted to the first-order exponential equation to determine the “potentially hydrolyzable N (Nmax)” for the soils. The activities of arylamidase, L-asparaginase, L-glutaminase, amidase, and L-aspartase were assayed at their optimal pH values. Results showed that estimated Nmax values were strongly correlated with the activities of arylamidase and amidohydrolases. The activities of arylamidase and the amidohydrolases were significantly correlated, indicating that the activities of the two groups of enzymes are coupled in mineralization of ON in soils. Based on the specificity of enzyme reactions and the strong relationship between estimated Nmax values and the activities of arylamidase and amidohydrolases, we concluded that similar amide-N bonds were susceptible to enzymatic and alkaline hydrolysis, and that alkaline hydrolyzable ON can be used as an index of N mineralization in soils.
KW - Soil organic N
KW - alkaline hydrolysis
KW - chemical index of available N
KW - potentially hydrolyzable N
KW - soil enzymes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088252687&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00103624.2020.1791162
DO - 10.1080/00103624.2020.1791162
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088252687
SN - 0010-3624
SP - 1757
EP - 1766
JO - Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
JF - Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
ER -