Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Importance of Considering Enzyme Degradation for Interpreting the Response of Soil Enzyme Activity to Nutrient Addition: Insights from a Field and Laboratory Study

Version 1 : Received: 12 May 2023 / Approved: 12 May 2023 / Online: 12 May 2023 (13:45:17 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Mori, T.; Wang, S.; Peng, C.; Wang, C.; Mo, J.; Zheng, M.; Zhang, W. Importance of Considering Enzyme Degradation for Interpreting the Response of Soil Enzyme Activity to Nutrient Addition: Insights from a Field and Laboratory Study. Forests 2023, 14, 1206. Mori, T.; Wang, S.; Peng, C.; Wang, C.; Mo, J.; Zheng, M.; Zhang, W. Importance of Considering Enzyme Degradation for Interpreting the Response of Soil Enzyme Activity to Nutrient Addition: Insights from a Field and Laboratory Study. Forests 2023, 14, 1206.

Abstract

Soil enzyme activity can be affected by both production and degradation, as enzymes can be degraded by proteases. However, the impact of nutrient addition on enzyme activity is often solely attributed to changes in enzyme production without fully considering degradation. Here, we demonstrated that the activities of β-1,4-glucosidase (BG), β-D-cellobiohydrolase (CBH), β-1,4-Xylosidase (BX), and β-1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminnidase (NAG) were comparable in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilized soils and the unfertilized control under field conditions, but the reduction in activity was substantially greater in the fertilized soils during short-term laboratory incubation. The results show that the interruption of the natural, continuous supply of organic matter or non-soil microbial-derived enzymes, which typically occurs under field conditions, leads to a more significant reduction in apparent enzyme activities in fertilized soils compared to unfertilized control. This may be attributed to the higher abundance of protease in fertilized soils, resulting in faster enzyme degradation. Interestingly, P fertilization alone did not have a similar effect, indicating that N fertilization is likely the main cause of the larger decreases in enzyme activity during incubation in fertilized soils compared to unfertilized control soils, despite our study site being poor in P and rich in N. These findings highlight the importance of considering enzyme degradation when investigating material dynamics in forest ecosystems, including the impact of nutrient addition on enzyme activity, as enzyme production alone may not fully explain changes in apparent enzyme activity.

Keywords

enzyme degradation; nitrogen; phosphorus; protease; forest soil; tropics

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Soil Science

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.