Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria
AbstractSoil enzyme activities are potentially valuable indicators of soil health in cases of heavy metal and metalloid (HM) pollution. However, the extent to which HM pollution affects specific enzyme activities remains unclear. In this study we assessed the level of HM pollution and its effects on...
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/13102818.2022.2149348 |
| _version_ | 1797357501192077312 |
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| author | Radina Nikolova Silvena Boteva Anelia Kenarova Nikolai Dinev Galina Radeva |
| author_facet | Radina Nikolova Silvena Boteva Anelia Kenarova Nikolai Dinev Galina Radeva |
| author_sort | Radina Nikolova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AbstractSoil enzyme activities are potentially valuable indicators of soil health in cases of heavy metal and metalloid (HM) pollution. However, the extent to which HM pollution affects specific enzyme activities remains unclear. In this study we assessed the level of HM pollution and its effects on soil enzyme activities to select the most reliable biochemical indicators of soil health under HM stress. The initial hypothesis was that enzyme responses would be site-specific, depending not only on the level of pollution but also on soil abiotic and biotic properties. The Nemerow pollution index (NPI) and the enzyme activity index (EAI) were calculated. EAIs were based on the activities of dehydrogenase (Dha), β-glucosidase (BGl), acid (AcP) and alkaline (AlP) phosphatases, arylsulphatase (Ars) and urease (Ur). NPI indicated slight (1.0) to serious (67.46) soil pollution. The EAI varied from 4.50 to 11.54. The overall functional dissimilarity between soils was around 26%. Cluster and SIMPER analyses both indicated that the activities of Dha, BGl and AlP grouped together with Cu, Zn and Pb, and accounted for 85% of the between-soil functional dissimilarity. The results indicated that there was enzyme functional redundancy between soils. Soil enzymes showed a relatively high capacity to tolerate long-term HM pollution. Dha, BGl and AlP were highly sensitive to environmental fluctuations, including HM concentrations. The long-term HM stress on soil enzyme activities calls for further studies of the soil properties and the time scale involved in the evolution of metal tolerant enzyme producers in HM-impacted soils. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:46:03Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1310-2818 1314-3530 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:46:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
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| series | Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment |
| spelling | doaj.art-79f01f2137094071a59ec99c2c55e7352024-01-11T09:29:32ZengTaylor & Francis GroupBiotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment1310-28181314-35302023-12-01371495710.1080/13102818.2022.2149348Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in BulgariaRadina Nikolova0Silvena Boteva1Anelia Kenarova2Nikolai Dinev3Galina Radeva4Department of Gene Regulation, Roumen Tsanev Institute of Molecular Biology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Agrochemistry, Agroecology and Farming Systems, N. Poushkarov Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection, Agricultural Academy, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Gene Regulation, Roumen Tsanev Institute of Molecular Biology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BulgariaAbstractSoil enzyme activities are potentially valuable indicators of soil health in cases of heavy metal and metalloid (HM) pollution. However, the extent to which HM pollution affects specific enzyme activities remains unclear. In this study we assessed the level of HM pollution and its effects on soil enzyme activities to select the most reliable biochemical indicators of soil health under HM stress. The initial hypothesis was that enzyme responses would be site-specific, depending not only on the level of pollution but also on soil abiotic and biotic properties. The Nemerow pollution index (NPI) and the enzyme activity index (EAI) were calculated. EAIs were based on the activities of dehydrogenase (Dha), β-glucosidase (BGl), acid (AcP) and alkaline (AlP) phosphatases, arylsulphatase (Ars) and urease (Ur). NPI indicated slight (1.0) to serious (67.46) soil pollution. The EAI varied from 4.50 to 11.54. The overall functional dissimilarity between soils was around 26%. Cluster and SIMPER analyses both indicated that the activities of Dha, BGl and AlP grouped together with Cu, Zn and Pb, and accounted for 85% of the between-soil functional dissimilarity. The results indicated that there was enzyme functional redundancy between soils. Soil enzymes showed a relatively high capacity to tolerate long-term HM pollution. Dha, BGl and AlP were highly sensitive to environmental fluctuations, including HM concentrations. The long-term HM stress on soil enzyme activities calls for further studies of the soil properties and the time scale involved in the evolution of metal tolerant enzyme producers in HM-impacted soils.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/13102818.2022.2149348Heavy metalssoil pollutionNemerow pollution indexindex of enzyme activitiessoil hydrolasessoil oxidoreductases |
| spellingShingle | Radina Nikolova Silvena Boteva Anelia Kenarova Nikolai Dinev Galina Radeva Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment Heavy metals soil pollution Nemerow pollution index index of enzyme activities soil hydrolases soil oxidoreductases |
| title | Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria |
| title_full | Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria |
| title_fullStr | Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria |
| title_short | Enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution: a case study from the surroundings of a non-ferrous metal plant in Bulgaria |
| title_sort | enzyme activities in soils under heavy metal pollution a case study from the surroundings of a non ferrous metal plant in bulgaria |
| topic | Heavy metals soil pollution Nemerow pollution index index of enzyme activities soil hydrolases soil oxidoreductases |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/13102818.2022.2149348 |
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