Our review of 2003 discussed the meaning of both microbial diversity and microbial activity at the dawn of the ‘soil omics’ era. It focused on problems with the methods to determine them and on the main ways that soil functions depend on microbial processes. Between 2003 and 2016, the molecular techniques applied in the study of soil microbial diversity have improved markedly. Sequencing techniques today provide accurate estimates of microbial diversity in soil, whereas determining the expression of microbial genes as synthesized proteins is still problematic (Renella et al., 2014a). The assumption was and still is that with a fuller understanding of microbial diversity we might be able to control some soil functions. This is a fallacy because soil functions depend on microbial activity and not only on microbial diversity. A better understanding of the link between microbial diversity and microbial activity might be obtained by an integration of molecular and classical techniques. Sequencing techniques have confirmed the primary role of soil properties in shaping soil microbial diversity and the redundancy of species involved in soil processes such as the mineralization of organic C. Future research should improve techniques for the characterization of soil proteomics, promote the combination of classical and molecular approaches, promote hypothesis‐ more than technology‐driven research and propose molecular markers as indicators of soil quality, for example, the gene copy/gene expression or gene/enzyme activity ratios.
Nannipieri, P., Ascher, J., Ceccherini, M.T., Landi, L., Pietramellara, G. & Renella, G. 2003. Microbial diversity and soil functions. European Journal of Soil Science, 54, 655–670.: Reflections by P. Nannipieri, J. Ascher-Jenull, M. T. Ceccherini, L. Giagnoni, G. Pietramellara & G. Renella
Renella G.Conceptualization
2017
Abstract
Our review of 2003 discussed the meaning of both microbial diversity and microbial activity at the dawn of the ‘soil omics’ era. It focused on problems with the methods to determine them and on the main ways that soil functions depend on microbial processes. Between 2003 and 2016, the molecular techniques applied in the study of soil microbial diversity have improved markedly. Sequencing techniques today provide accurate estimates of microbial diversity in soil, whereas determining the expression of microbial genes as synthesized proteins is still problematic (Renella et al., 2014a). The assumption was and still is that with a fuller understanding of microbial diversity we might be able to control some soil functions. This is a fallacy because soil functions depend on microbial activity and not only on microbial diversity. A better understanding of the link between microbial diversity and microbial activity might be obtained by an integration of molecular and classical techniques. Sequencing techniques have confirmed the primary role of soil properties in shaping soil microbial diversity and the redundancy of species involved in soil processes such as the mineralization of organic C. Future research should improve techniques for the characterization of soil proteomics, promote the combination of classical and molecular approaches, promote hypothesis‐ more than technology‐driven research and propose molecular markers as indicators of soil quality, for example, the gene copy/gene expression or gene/enzyme activity ratios.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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