Comparative study of nitrogenase activity in different types of biological soil crusts in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China

Wu, Nan; Zhang, Yuan Ming; Downing, Alison

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.04.002

Cited by 73 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(47 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Some of these studies have involved analysis of the activities of oxidative enzymes such as nitrogenase (Wu et al, 2009;Zhao et al, 2010), dehydrogenase (Bolton et al, 1993), peroxidase and phenol oxidase (Stursova et al, 2006. Other studies have focused on determining the activities of hydrolases such as urease CastilloMonroy et al, 2011), arylsulphatase (Bolton et al, 1993) and β-glucosidase (Bolton et al, 1993;Bowker et al, 2011;Castillo-Monroy et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrolase enzyme activities in a successional gradient of biological soil crusts in arid and semi-arid zones

Miralles

Domingo

Cantón

et al. 2012

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In arid and semi-arid regions, pioneer organisms form complex communities that penetrate the upper millimetres of the bare substrate, creating biological soil crusts (BSC). These thin crusts play a vital role in whole ecosystem functioning because they enrich bare surfaces with organic matter, initiate biogeochemical cycling of elements, modify hydrological cycles, etc., thus enabling the ground to be colonized by vascular plants. Various hydrolase enzymes involved in the carbon (cellulase, ß-glucosidase and invertase activities), nitrogen (casein-protease and BAA-protease activities) and phosphorus (alkaline phosphomonoesterase activity) cycles were studied at three levels (crust, middle and deep layers) of three types of BSCs from the Tabernas Desert (SE Spain), representing an ecological gradient ranging from crusts predominated by cyanobacteria to crusts predominated by lichens (Diploschistes diacapsis, Lepraria crassissima). All enzyme activities were higher in all layers of all BSCs than in the bare substrate. The enzymes that hydrolyze low molecular weight substrates were more active than those that hydrolyze high molecular weight substrates (cellulase, caseinprotease), highlighting the pioneering characteristics of the BSCs. The hydrolytic capacity developed in parallel to that of ecological succession, and the BSCs in which enzyme activity was highest were those under Lepraria crassissima. The enzyme activity per unit of total organic C was extremely high; the highest values occurred in the BSCs formed by cyanobacteria and the lowest in those formed by lichens, which 2 indicates the fundamental role that the primary colonizers (cyanobacteria) play in enriching the geological substrate with enzymes that enable degradation of organic remains and the establishment of more developed BSCs. The results of the study combine information on different enzyme activities and provide a clear vision of how biogeochemical cycles are established in BSCs, thus confirming the usefulness of enzyme assays as key tools for examining the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function in biological soil crusts.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrolase enzyme activities in a successional gradient of biological soil crusts in arid and semi-arid zones

Miralles

Domingo

Cantón

et al. 2012

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Based on the composition of the dominant organisms, BSCs can be categorized into different successional stages, such as algae crusts, lichen crusts, moss crusts and a combination or transition of these stages (Rivera-Aguilar et al 2005;Su et al 2009;Wu et al 2009). Early successional algae crusts are light in color, have little protective pigment (such as scytonemin, carotenoid) and low biomass (Belnap and Lange 2001).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of photosynthetic organisms and diurnal changes of photosynthetic efficiency in algae and moss crusts

Lan

Zhang

et al. 2011

Plant Soil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AbstractsAims In Dalateqi region of Inner Mongolia (at eastern edge of Qubqi Desert), man-made algae crusts were constructed with two filamentous cyanobacteria. Two to three years later, the algae crusts began to succeed to moss crusts under some microterrain conditions. In order to characterize the community structure and compare the photosynthetic characteristics in different successional stages of biological soil crusts (BSCs). Methods This paper studied composition of photosynthetic organisms and diurnal changes of photosynthetic efficiency, with microscopic observation and chlorophyll fluorescence monitoring techniques. Results Compared with the early successional algae crusts, later moss crusts had a higher photosynthetic efficiency, which was closely related with the different community structure of photosynthetic organisms. Further, moss crusts had a higher total photosynthetic biomass, although the algal biomass decreased along the successional sequence. Similar to higher vascular plants, a midday depression of photosynthetic efficiency was detected in BSCs, although the depression extents were different in different successional stages. Analysis demonstrated the depression was mainly caused by non-stomata limitations, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was a significant influencing factor in the down-regulation of photosynthetic efficiency. Conclusions We conclude, cyanobacterial inoculation effectively promotes the formation, development and seccession of BSCs. Furthermore, the later successional BSCs have a better photosynthetic performance and thus are expected to play a more effective role in desertification control.

show abstract

“…The annual maximum, minimum, and mean temperature is 42.6, -41.6, and 6.6°C, respectively (Fan et al 2014). Natural vegetation in the area is dominated by xerophytic shrubs including Haloxylon ammodendron and Haloxylon persicum (family Chenopodiaceae) (Song et al 2006) with a vegetation cover of less than 30 % (Wu et al 2009;Zhang et al 2007). …”

Section: Study Sites and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community succession of bacteria and eukaryotes in dune ecosystems of Gurbantünggüt Desert, Northwest China

Zhang

2014

Extremophiles

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pyrosequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction of small subunit rRNA genes were used to provide a comprehensive examination of bacterial, cyanobacterial, and eukaryotic communities in the biological soil crusts (BSCs) of Gurbantünggüt Desert sand dunes (China). Three succession stages were recognized based on the analyses of eukaryotic communities: a late succession stage of BSCs in a swale with eukaryotes mainly related to the Bryophyta clade, an initial succession stage in a slope with barely any eukaryotic phototrophic microorganisms detected, and an intermediate succession type detected from both the swale and slope BSCs dominated by the phylum Chlorophyta. Moreover, the cyanobacterial community dominated all of the BSCs (48.2-69.5 % of the total bacteria) and differed among the three succession stages: sequences related to Microcoleus steenstrupii and the genus Scytonema were abundant in the later succession stage, whereas both the initial and intermediate stages were dominated by Microcoleus vaginatus. Compared with swales, BSCs from slopes are exposed to a harsher environment, e.g., higher irradiance and lower water availability, and thus may be restricted from developing to a higher succession stage. Other disturbances such as wind and grazing may explain the different succession stages observed in swales or slopes. However, no clear differences were detected from non-phototrophic bacterial communities of the three succession stages, and sequences related to Alphaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were most abundant in all the BSCs. The closest matches for the most frequent non-phototrophic bacterial genera were mainly derived from harsh environments, indicating the robustness of these genera.

show abstract

Comparative study of nitrogenase activity in different types of biological soil crusts in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China

Cited by 73 publications

References 37 publications

Hydrolase enzyme activities in a successional gradient of biological soil crusts in arid and semi-arid zones

Hydrolase enzyme activities in a successional gradient of biological soil crusts in arid and semi-arid zones

Composition of photosynthetic organisms and diurnal changes of photosynthetic efficiency in algae and moss crusts

Community succession of bacteria and eukaryotes in dune ecosystems of Gurbantünggüt Desert, Northwest China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About