Effects of sterilization methods on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil in south China

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240278

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (3): 633-642.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240278

• Environmental Science • Previous Articles Next Articles

Effects of sterilization methods on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil in south China

CHEN Jiayi¹(), ZHOU Qiaojuan¹, OU Qiuxue¹, CHEN Shufang¹, ZHANG Jia’en¹^,²^,³, WEI Hui¹^,²^,³^,^*()

1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
2. Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Centre of Modern Eco-Agriculture and Circular Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, China
3. Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment in the Tropics, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangzhou 510642, China

Received:2024-03-18 Online:2025-03-25 Published:2025-04-02

Abstract

Abstract:

Soil sterilization is an important method to study the ecological function of microorganisms, but the effect of sterilization on the physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil in south China is still unclear. To investigate the effect of sterilization on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil, five typical sterilization methods (chloroform fumigation, gamma radiation, autoclaving and dry heat sterilization for 3 h or 6 h) were introduced, as well as the non-sterilized soil taken as the control, to evaluate the sterilization effect of these sterilization methods and their effect on soil physicochemical properties. The results showed that gamma radiation had the least impact on the chemical properties of lateritic red soil, which could be the prefer choice for soil sterilization with special equipment needed and high treatment cost. Autoclaving and chloroform fumigation had big influence on soil carbon and nitrogen content. Dry heat sterilization had pronounced impact on the content of available nutrients and dissolved organic carbon components in soil. Therefore, the appropriate sterilization method should be carefully selected according to the research purpose to obtain reliable test results.

Key words: chloroform fumigation, gamma radiation, autoclaving, dry heat sterilization, lateritic red soil

CLC Number:

S153

CHEN Jiayi, ZHOU Qiaojuan, OU Qiuxue, CHEN Shufang, ZHANG Jia’en, WEI Hui. Effects of sterilization methods on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil in south China[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2025, 37(3): 633-642.

Figures/Tables 7

Table 1 Effect of sterilization methods on soil bacteria

处理 Treatment	细菌数量 Bacteria number/(CFU·g^-1)	灭菌率 Sterilization rate/%
CK	19 400±2 550	—
CF	153±19	99.21
GR	0	100
AU	0	100
D3	0	100
D6	0	100

Fig.1 Effects of sterilization methods on soil physiochemical properties Bars marked without the same letters indicate significant difference at P<0.05. The same as below.

Fig.2 Effects of sterilization methods on soil available nutrients content

Fig.3 Effects of sterilization methods on soil dissolved organic carbon components

Fig.4 Correlation analysis of soil physiochemical properties CEC, Cation exchange capacity; TC, Total carbon content; TN, Total nitrogen content; C/N, Carbon/nitrogen ratio; DOC, Dissolved organic carbon content; N H 4 +-N, Ammonium nitrogen content; AK, Available potassium content. “*” “**” “***” represent significant level of P<0.05, P<0.01, P<0.001, respectively.

Fig.5 Principal component analysis of soil physiochemical properties under treatments “*” on the box in the above figure is an outlier identifier, indicating that the test result is identified by the statistical software as an outlier (more than the first quartile or third quartile ±1.5 times the interquartile range). Because these observations were not removed from the analysis in this study, it is marked in the figure.

Fig.6 Effect of sterilization treatment on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil “?” indicates increase, while “?” indicates decrease. CF, Chloroform fumigation; GR, Gamma radiation; AU, Autoclaving; D3, Dry heat sterilization for 3 h; D6, Dry heat sterilization for 6 h.

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Effects of sterilization methods on physiochemical properties of lateritic red soil in south China

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