Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial organic nutrient acquisition in soil and sediment

Robert L. Sinsabaugh (), Brian H. Hill and Jennifer J. Follstad Shah
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Robert L. Sinsabaugh: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 871312, USA
Brian H. Hill: US Environmental Protection Agency, National Health & Environmental Effects Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota 55804-2595, USA
Jennifer J. Follstad Shah: Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 462, issue 7274, 795-798

Abstract: Ecoenzymes in balance The flow of energy and nutrients through an ecosystem is governed by both metabolic limitations and nutrient availability. A study of the external 'ecoenzymes' released into the environment by microbes to digest organic matter now shows that the activity of these enzymes follows a consistent scaling relationship that is independent of microbial community composition. The four enzymes mediating a large fraction of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition by heterotrophic microbial communities were measured in soil and freshwater sediments, and the ratio of C to N to P assimilation activity was close to 1:1:1 in all habitats. Ecoenzyme activity can be seen as linking the two principal unifying theories of ecology — stoichiometric and metabolic theories — since enzyme expression is a product of cellular metabolism specifically regulated by the random nature of environmental nutrient availability.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08632

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