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Ligno-aliphatic complexes in soils revealed by an isolation procedure: implication for lignin fate

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Abstract

For the last decades, the fate of lignins in soil was analyzed mainly with cupric oxide (CuO) oxidation, which is traditionally used to quantify soil lignin content and characterize its state of degradation. This method presents limitations due to incomplete depolymerization of the lignin structure. In this study, we used a physicochemical soil lignin isolation procedure, which permits recovery of a milled wall enzymatic lignin (MWEL) fraction. Elemental composition and chemical structure of MWEL isolated from plants and soil were characterized. Its incorporation rate into an agricultural loamy soil was studied using stable isotope analyses of MWEL isolated from soils after 0 to 9 years of maize cultivation after wheat. Comparison of MWEL isolated from maize tissues and soil provided information on evolution of the lignin structure once incorporated into soil. We observed aromatic–aliphatic complex formation, which could lead to its sequestration in soil evidenced by increasing MWEL content after 9 years of maize cultivation. The 13C natural abundance of isolated MWEL showed faster incorporation of MWEL (17.4 % of renewed lignins after 9 years) compared to total soil organic matter (9 % of total soil organic carbon (SOC) was renewed). This faster incorporation rate of MWEL compared to bulk soil organic matter is in agreement with lignin turnover observed by CuO oxidation. Radiocarbon dating of MWEL suggested a mean age of around 50 years. We conclude that lignin isolation allows (1) access to a different fraction compared to CuO oxidation and (2) a detailed characterization of lignin transformation in soil. We suggest that interaction with aliphatic compounds could be one possible pathway of lignin preservation in soil.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and the ANR-DynaMOS project (ANR-07-BLANC-0222). The authors thank Pr. C. Lapierre and B. Pollet from the Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin in Versailles for their generous and really appreciated help in performing extractions of the MWEL. J.P. Pétraud is acknowledged for the excellent technical management of the Closeaux experiment since 1993 and for the careful soil sampling and preparation. The Unité de Science du Sol of INRA in Versailles is also acknowledged for supporting this experiment since 1993. Thanks also go to the reviewers and to the editor for their useful comments, improving the quality of this paper. This is LSCE contribution 4590.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioemco, UMR 7618 INRA-CNRS-Université Paris 6, 78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France

    Mathieu Thevenot, Marie-France Dignac, Haithem Bahri, Gérard Bardoux & Cornelia Rumpel

  2. Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS-Université de Bourgogne, 21000, Dijon, France

    Mathieu Thevenot

  3. LSCE, UMR 8212, CEA-CNRS-Université Versailles Saint-Quentin, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Mercedes Mendez-Millan & Christine Hatté

  4. Laboratoire de génie rural, INRGREF, Rue Hédi Karray, Ariana, Tunisia

    Haithem Bahri

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  1. Mathieu Thevenot
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  2. Marie-France Dignac
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  3. Mercedes Mendez-Millan
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Correspondence to Mathieu Thevenot.

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Thevenot, M., Dignac, MF., Mendez-Millan, M. et al. Ligno-aliphatic complexes in soils revealed by an isolation procedure: implication for lignin fate. Biol Fertil Soils 49, 517–526 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0795-5

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