PHOSPHOLIPID FATTY ACID (PLFAS) ANALYSIS AND ITS APPLICATIONS IN THE STUDY OF PESTICIDES EFFECTS ON SOIL MICROBIAL DIVERSITY

摘要

Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis is a robust method for characterizing the composition of soil microbial communities. This method has been used as a reliable measure of the soil microbial biomass and also for assessing the impact of agronomic practices, pesticide applications and heavy metal pollution on the structure of the soil microbial community. The variation of phospholipids between eukaryotes and prokaryotes and among many prokaryotic groups as well as their rapid degradation after cell death, make PLFAs very useful indicators of the living microbial community. An optimized protocol for the extraction of PLFAs has been developed and validated, considering the types of extraction solvent and buffer, the extraction time and soil pH, on the quantity and the type of the PLFAs extracted from soils.