[Quantifying soil autotrophic microbes-assimilated carbon input into soil organic carbon pools following continuous...

Soil autotrophic microbe has been found numerous and widespread. However, roles of microbial autotrophic processes and the mechanisms of that in the soil carbon sequestration remain poorly understood. Here, we used soils incubated for 110 days in a closed, continuously labeled 14C-CO2 atmosphere to measure the amount of labeled C incorporated into the microbial biomass. The allocation of 14C-labeled assimilated carbon in variable soil C pools such as dissolved organic C (DOC) and microbial biomass C (MBC) were also examined over the 14C labeling span. The results showed that significant amounts of 14C-SOC were measured in paddy soils, which ranged from 69.06-133.81 mg x kg(-1), accounting for 0.58% to 0.92% of the total soil organic carbon (SOC). The amounts of 14C in the dissolved organic C (14C-DOC) and in the microbial biomass C (14C-MBC) were dependent on the soils, ranged from 2.54 to 8.10 mg x kg(-1), 19.50 to 49.16 mg x kg(-1), respectively. There was a significantly positive linear relationship between concentrations of 14C-SOC and 14C-MBC (R2 = 0.957**, P < 0.01). The 14C-DOC and 14C-MBC as proportions of total DOC, MBC, were 5.65%-24.91% and 4.23%-20.02%, respectively. Moreover, the distribution and transformation of microbes-assimilated-derived C had a greater influence on the dynamics of DOC and MBC than that on the dynamics of SOC. These data provide new insights into the importance of microorganisms in the fixation of atmospheric CO2 and of the potentially significant contributions made by microbial autotrophy to terrestrial C cycling.