Root carbon interaction with soil minerals is dynamic, leaving a legacy of microbially-derived residues

Neurath, R. A.; Pett-Ridge, J.; Chu-Jacoby, I.; Herman, D. J.; Whitman, T.; Nico, P. S.; Lipton, A. S.; Kyle, J.; Tfaily, M. M.; Thompson, A.; Firestone, M. K.

doi:10.1101/2021.03.23.436628

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.03.23.436628

Root carbon interaction with soil minerals is dynamic, leaving a legacy of microbially-derived residues

Neurath, R. A.·Pett-Ridge, J.·Chu-Jacoby, I.·Herman, D. J.·Whitman, T.·Nico, P. S.·Lipton, A. S.·Kyle, J.·Tfaily, M. M.·Thompson, A.·Firestone, M. K.

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Abstract

1.Minerals preserve the oldest most persistent soil carbon, and mineral characteristics appear to play a critical role in the formation of soil organic matter (SOM) associations. To test the hypothesis that carbon source and soil microorganisms also influence mineral-SOM associations, we incubated permeable minerals bags in soil microcosms with and without plants, in a 13CO2 labeling chamber. Mineral bags contained quartz, ferrihydrite, kaolinite, or native soil minerals isolated via density separation. Using 13C-NMR, FTICR-MS, and lipidomics, we traced plant-derived carbon onto minerals harvested from microcosms at three plant growth stages, characterizing total carbon, 13C enrichment, and SOM chemistry. While C accumulation was rapid and mineral-dependent, the accumulated amount was not significantly affected by the presence of plant roots. However, the rhizosphere did shape the chemistry of mineral-associated SOM. Minerals incubated in the rhizosphere were associated with a more diverse array of compounds with different C functional groups (carbonyl, aromatics, carbohydrates, lipids) than minerals incubated in a bulk soil control. These diverse rhizosphere-derived compounds may represent a "transient fraction" of mineral SOM, rapidly exchanging with mineral surfaces. Our results also suggest that many of the lipids which persist on minerals are microbially-derived with a large fraction of fungal lipids. SynopsisThis study explores the interaction of rhizosphere carbon, minerals, and microbial influence on the fate of soil carbon. TOC O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=184 SRC="FIGDIR/small/436628v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (52K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@17ce1bborg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c7c2e8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1cd0e41org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@162ff90_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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Neurath, R. A., Pett-Ridge, J., Chu-Jacoby, I., Herman, D. J., Whitman, T., Nico, P. S., Lipton, A. S., Kyle, J., Tfaily, M. M., Thompson, A., Firestone, M. K.. 2021-03-23. Root carbon interaction with soil minerals is dynamic, leaving a legacy of microbially-derived residues. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.23.436628

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