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Web URL(s): | http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1081/CSS-120000246 Last checked: 10/13/2015 Requires: PDF Reader Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website |
Publication Type:
| Report |
Author(s): | Smith, Dorothea C.;
Hughes, Jeffrey C. |
Author Affiliation: | Soil Science, School of Applied Environmental Sciences, University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg), Scottsville, South Africa |
Title: | A simple test to determine cellulolytic activity as indicator of compost maturity |
Source: | Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. Vol. 32, No. 11/12, June 2001, p. 1735-1749. |
Publishing Information: | New York, NY: Marcel Dekker |
# of Pages: | 15 |
Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Composts; Tests; Soil microorganisms; Bioassay; Cellulose; Root weight; Toxicity
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Abstract/Contents: | "A simple assay, based on soil burial tests, was developed to determine the activity of cellulolytic microorganisms in compost. The assay used filter paper as the cellulose substrate. The filter paper was buried in compost and incubated in the dark for 10 days at 30°C. The amount of cellulose degraded was determined by the difference in dry mass of the filter paper, before and after burial, and the cellulolytic activity was expressed as percentage cellulose degraded in 10 days. The assay was applied to visually mature composts from various sources that differed in raw materail compositon and treatment. The results were compared with those obtained from a cress (Lepidium sativum, L.) germination and growth experiment carried out with the same composts and with the microbial activities of the composts determined by a fluorescein diacetate method. The fresh mass of the cress roots was negatively correlated with the cellulolytic activity of the composts. A positive correlation existed between the cellulolytic activity and the microbial activity of the composts. It is suggested that cellulose degradation could be one of the factors responsible for `latent toxicity' exhibited by some visually mature composts." |
Language: | English |
References: | 22 |
See Also: | Other items relating to: COMEVA |
Note: | Tables Graphs |
| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete): Smith, D. C., and J. C. Hughes. 2001. A simple test to determine cellulolytic activity as indicator of compost maturity. Commun. Soil. Sci. Plant Anal. 32(11/12):p. 1735-1749. |
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| Web URL(s): http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1081/CSS-120000246 Last checked: 10/13/2015 Requires: PDF Reader Access conditions: Item is within a limited-access website |
| MSU catalog number: S 590 .C54 |
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