Amino acids in soils

Banwart W. L. and Bremner J. M. (1975) Formation of volatile sulfur compounds by microbial decomposition of sulfur-containing amino acids in soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 7,... 

Stevenson, F. J. (1974). Nonbiological transformations of amino acids in soil and sediments. In Advanced in Organic Geochemistry (B. Tissot and F. Bienner, eds.). Editions Technip, Paris, pp. 143-151. 

Early in the earth s lifetime, the atmosphere was apparently rich in methane and hydrogen and low in oxygen. Lightning can create simple amino acids in such a gas mixture. Describe the sequence of reactions and the soil properties that might aid polymerization of these amino acids in soils. 

Monreal, C. M., and McGill, W. B. (1985). Centrifugal extraction and determination of free amino acids in soil solutions by TLC using tritialed I-fluoro-2,4-dinitroben-... 

Detailed analysis of amino acids in soils has proved useful when... 

FRENEY J.R., STEVENSON F.J. and BEAVERS A.H. 1972. Sulphur-containing amino acids in soil hydrolysates. Soil Science, 114, 468-476. 

PAUL E.A. 1959. Extraction and quantitative estimation of free amino acids in soils. Dissertation Abstracts, 19, 2419. 

PAYNE T.M.B., ROUATT J.W. and KATZNELSON H. 1956. Detection of free amino acids in soil. Soil Science, 82, 521-524. 

T. Shepherd and H. V. Davies, Effect of exogenous amino acids, glucose and citric-acid on the patterns of short-term amino acid accumulation and loss of amino acids in the root-zone of sand-cultured forage rape (Bras.sica napiis L.). Plant Soil 158 111 (1994). 

C. B. Sulochana, Amino acids in root exudates of cotton. Plant Soil (6 312 (1962). 

To establish whether refluxing with hot 6M HC1 for 24 h hydrolyzed all proteinaceous materials in soils, Griffith et al. [5] hydrolyzed a number of soils first with hot 6M HC1, and subsequently hydrolyzed separate samples of add-treated residues with either 0.2 M Ba(OH)2 or 2.5 M NaOH under reflux. The results obtained showed that hot 6 M HC1 released almost all of the amino acids in the soils in 24 h. 

The extent of NO3 absorption by soil-grown plants will depend on its rate of formation and loss in the rhizosphere (this is considered in Section 6.5). Transporters for amino acids have also been found in plant roots, and concentrations of amino acids in the soil solution in flooded soils can be appreciable. Therefore it seems likely that some N is also absorbed as amino acids, but as yet we do not have the necessary data to quantify this. 

The extent to which any plant will convert inorganic sulfur taken up from the soil into amino acids and incorporate these into protein is controlled by die genetics of the plant, Increasing the available sulfur in soils to levels in excess of those needed for optimum plant growth will not increase the concentration of sulfur amino acids in plant tissues. To meet die requirements for sulfur amino acids in human diets, the use of food plant species with die inherited ability to build proteins with high levels of sulfur amino acids is required in addition to that supplied by way of the soil. 

R.S. Potter and R.S. Snyder, Amino acid nitrogen of soils and the chemical groups of amino acids in the hydrolyzed soil and their humic acids, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 37 (1915) 2219-2224. 

Watt, B. E., T. M. Hayes, M. H. B. Hayes, R. T. Price, R. L. Malcolm, and P. Jakeman. 1996. Sugars and amino acids in humic substances isolated from British and Irish waters. In Humic Substances and Organic Matter in Soil and Water Environments Characterization, Transformations and Interactions (C. E. Clapp, M. H. B. Hayes, N. Sensesi, and S. M. Griffith Eds.), pp. 81-91. International Humic Substances Society, St. Paul, MN. 

Several recent studies investigated the bioavailability of DOM and total hydrolyzable neutral sugars and amino acids in lake (Weiss and Simon, 1999), creek (Volk et al., 1997 Gremm and Kaplan, 1998), and marine (Amon et al., 2001) waters. The DOM in the lake and marine environments was predominantly derived from plankton, whereas the DOM in the creek was predominantly derived from soils and decaying plant litter. Although limited in number, these systems represent a diverse array of aquatic environments. Each of these studies determined the percentages of DOC that were... 

Owen, A. G., and Jones, D. L. (2001). Competition for amino acids between wheat roots and rhizosphere microorganisms and the role of amino acids in plants N acquisition. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33, 651-657. 

Sorge, C., Schnitzer, M., and Schulten, H.-R. (1993). In-source pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry and Curie-point pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of amino acids in humic substances and soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils 16,100-110. 

An example of this kind of work involves the enzyme subtilisin, frequently used as an additive in laundry detergents because it attacks the proteins that soil clothing. The problem, however, is that subtilisin is easily destroyed by bleaches with which a detergent is often used. Research showed that subtilisin is sensitive to bleach because a single amino acid in its primary structure—a methionine at position 22—is destroyed by bleach. By replacing this methionine with an amino acid that is not sensitive to attack by bleach, then, researchers were able to synthesize a new form of subtilisin that did not degrade in the presence of bleach for use in laundry detergents. 

Gardner, W.S., and Hanson, R.B. (1979) Dissolved free amino acids in interstitial waters of Georgia salt marsh soils. Estuaries 2, 113-118. 

Guo, X. and Wu, L. 1998. Distribution of free seleno-amino acids in plant tissue of Melilotus indica L. grown in selenium-laden soils. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 39(3), 207-214. 

Sorption and Leaching of 4-Amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic Acid in Soils... 

Wu, L., Guo, X., and Banuelos, G.S. 1997. Accumulation of seleno-amino acids in legume and grass plant species grown in selenium laden soil. Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 16(3) 491-7. 

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