CONTRIBUTION TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHEMICAL NATURE AND ORIGIN OF HUMUS

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Abstract
The synthesized humus complexes prepared from lignins and proteins had a decidedly favorable effect on the activities of microorganisms, as measured by decomposition of glucose, cellulose, and organic nitrogenous compounds. Synthesized humus complexes containing Fe exert a stimulating effect on N fixation by Azotobacter. However, the N in these humus complexes can not be used to any great extent by soil microorganisms, aa shown to be the case with the cellulose-decomposing fungi and bacteria; with synthesized humus complexes as the only source of N, cellulose underwent only limited decomposition, as in the absence of available N. In the decomposition of fungous residues in the soil, in the presence of lignins a large part of the N of the fungous mycelium could be isolated, at the end of the decomposition period, in the form of ligno-protein complex; this confirmed previous investigations that, in the decomposition of plant residues in the soil, lignins combine with proteins, either present in the plant material or synthesized by the microorganisms, to form ligno-protein complexes which are the most important constituents of the humus in soils and in composts.

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