Enzymatic activity, in soil

Kanazawa S, Filip Z. 1986. Effects of trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and dichloromethane on enzymatic activities in soil. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 25 76-81. 

Because of the structure-function relationship for (globular) proteins, adsorption-induced changes in the molecular structure are likely to affect the biological activity of the protein, e.g., the enzymatic activity. In soils, as well as in a wide variety of other systems, the impact on biological... 

The enzymatic activity in soil is mainly of microbial origin, being derived from intracellular, cell-associated or free enzymes. Only enzymatic activity of ecto-enzymes and free enzymes is used for determination of the diversity of enzyme patterns in soil extracts. Enzymes are the direct mediators for biological catabolism of soil organic and mineral components. Thus, these catalysts provide a meaningful assessment of reaction rates for important soil processes. Enzyme activities can be measured as in situ substrate transformation rates or as potential rates if the focus is more qualitative. Enzyme activities are usually determined by a dye reaction followed by a spectrophotometric measurement. 

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