PROPORTION OF BACTERIA IN AGRICULTURAL SOILS ABLE TO PRODUCE DEGRADATIVE ENZYMES

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Abstract
Sites in the Ellington quadrangle in northcentral Connecticut [USA] were examined for numbers of bacteria able to produce specific degradative enzymes. All the sites are currently used for agriculture, either for row crops or as pastures and orchards. All areas contained abundant numbers of bacteria able to degrade proteins, lipids, pectin, starch, cellulose and hydrocarbons (alkanes). To test quantitative aspects of substrate degradation in dissimilar soils, n-hexadecane was added to 2 soils used for growing tobacco and 2 soils from pastures. Although the number of alkane degraders was essentially the same in each of the soils, the organisms in the soils from the pastures degraded 2-3 times the amount of n-hexadecane than did those in the tobacco soils. Data on number of bacterial degraders alone cannot guarantee performance of a soil to degrade a specific substrate, but the quantitative enzymic activity of the bacteria must be taken into account.

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