Withers, Emma

English

Soils support a wide range of ecosystem services that underpin Earth system functioning. It is therefore essential that we have robust approaches to evaluate how anthropogenic perturbation affects soil quality and the delivery of these services. Metabolomics, the large-scale study of low molecular weight organic compounds in soil, offers one potential approach to characterise soils and evaluate the metabolic status of the soil biological community. The aims of the present study were to 1) characterise the soil metabolome across a contrasting range of soil types, 2) understand the relationships between common chemical and physical soil quality indicators and its metabolome, and 3) evaluate the discriminatory power of soil metabolomics and its potential use as a soil quality indicator

Bangor University Research Portal

   PRIFYSGOL BANGOR / BANGOR UNIVERSITY  What's in the soil?Withers, EmmaPublished: 08/07/2020Cyswllt i'r cyhoeddiad / Link to publicationDyfyniad o'r fersiwn a gyhoeddwyd / Citation for published version (APA):Withers, E. (2020). What's in the soil?. Envision Digital Exhibition, .Hawliau Cyffredinol / General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/orother copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legalrequirements associated with these rights.            • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of privatestudy or research.            • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain            • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ?Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access tothe work immediately and investigate your claim. 06. Jun. 2021Farmed soils at thebottom of the hill arewarm, full of nutrientsand have a neutral pH.Microbes here are notstressed, so metabolitesdo not build up.Nutrient Rich SoilsPeaty soils on top of thehill are cold andexposed. They are alsovery acidic. Lots ofmetabolites build up inthese soils as it is hardfor microbes to survive.Stressful ConditionsWhat's in the Soil?Soils in different places have different properties: they could be sandy, salty,waterlogged or full of nutrients.Lots of microbes live in the soil. Microbes are really important because theykeep the soil healthy. We can see what these microbes are doing bydetecting the metabolites that they produce. Metabolites aresmall chemicals, like sugars and fats.Microbes in soils all do the same basic things to stayalive, like eating and respiring. But some haveto deal with extra stress, like being too wet,acidic or salty. When this happens,metabolites tend to build up.The types of metabolites that soilmicrobes produce are differentdepending on the propertiesof the soil.SandyNutrientRichSteepColdGrazedAcidicSaltyWaterloggedWithers, E., Hill, P.W., Chadwick, D.R. and Jones, D.L., 2020. Use of untargeted metabolomics for assessing soil quality and microbial function. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 143, 107758

What's in the soil?

https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/38030715/Envision_entry2.pdf

What's in the soil?

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Bangor University Research Portal