Fungal β-glucosidase gene and corresponding enzyme activity are positively related to soil organic carbon in unmanaged woody plantations

Highlights

● Soils from Poplar, Willow, Black locust plantations were compared to arable soil.

● Among five tested C cycle functional genes, three discriminated between treatments.

● Fungi contributed more than bacteria to the β-glucosidase enzyme activity.

● Fungal β-glucosidase gene may be considered an indicator of increased C storage.

Abstract

Soil carbon sequestration is regulated by microbial extracellular enzymes. Insight into this process can be gained by studying the relationship between enzyme activity, soil organic carbon and microbial functional genes. The genetic potential of microorganisms to produce carbon cycling enzymes was evaluated in unmanaged plantations of Poplar, Willow, and Black locust, compared with a nearby arable soil. Bacterial and fungal functional genes encoding for cellulase, endoglucanase, endoxylanase and β-glucosidase enzymes were quantified by real-time PCR. The abundance of three out of five genes differed between the treatments. The fungal gene encoding β-glucosidase contributed to the corresponding enzyme activity more than the bacterial one, as evidenced by a positive correlation between gene abundance and enzyme activity (r = 0.42). This gene exhibited a positive correlation with soil organic carbon content (r = 0.42), with higher values in Willow (9 × 10² gene copies µL⁻¹ and 1.4% SOC). These results suggest that the fungal β-glucosidase gene abundance can be regarded as an indicator of increased carbon storage, similarly to the corresponding enzyme activity. The integrated analysis of soil carbon enzyme activities and DNA-based techniques enhanced our comprehension of carbon dynamics by revealing distinct contributions of microbial taxonomic groups to carbon accrual.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

carbon accrual / soil enzymes / β-glucosidase gene / genetic potential / microorganisms

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Acknowledgments

This research was performed within the frame of CREA research facilities by using institutional resources and funds from the European Joint Programme (EJP SOIL) Project AGROECOseqC “AGROECOlogical strategies for an efficient functioning of plant-soil biota interactions to increase SOC sequestration,” European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program: Grant agreement No. 862695.

Compliance with ethical standards

The authors declare that they have no financial or other conflicts of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s42832-024-0238-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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