Chapter 6
Origin of Soil Polysaccharides,
and Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Sclerotia
as Sources of Forest Soil Polysaccharides
Shigetoshi Murayama and Yuki Sugiura
Abstract Saccharides account for a substantial proportion of soil organic matter. A
better understanding of their origin is of fundamental importance to elucidate how
these substances affect soil properties. This chapter provides overview of origin of
soil polysaccharide, and the monosaccharide composition of various soil of different
land use. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal sclerotia are discussed as sources of forest
soil polysaccharides.
Herbaceous plant materials contained a smaller proportion of galactose, mannose,
and arabinose in the composition than woody plant materials except for fallen
trunk of Maries fir. While, the former contained a larger proportion of non-easily
hydrolysable (NEH) glucose and xylose than the latter.
Differences in the monosaccharide composition between soils and plant materials
suggested that easily hydrolysable (EH) glucose, mannose, fucose, and rhamnose
could be synthesized by soil microbial communities. Tracer experiments using
14 C
and/or
13 C-labeled glucose showed that soil microbial community was unable to
synthesize pentoses in comparable amounts to hexoses, though there was effects of
soil properties and incubation conditions on the relative abundance of saccharide
component synthesized. NEH-glucose was synthesized substantially by the filamentous fungi in a tracer experiment of acidic soil.
Forest soil and forest-derived arable soil had larger proportion of EH-glucose and
mannose, and a smaller proportion of NEH-glucose, arabinose, and xylose than
non-forest soil. These features suggested that forest soil and forest-derived arable
soil have accumulated more abundantly microbe-derived polysaccharides than plantderived ones in comparison to non-forest soil.
S. Murayama (*)
Department of Environmental Bioscience, Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan
Present Address: Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
e-mail: shigetos@ccalumni.meijo-u.ac.jp
Y. Sugiura
Department of Environmental Bioscience, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan
Present Address: Yourou-Cyo, Gifu, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Watanabe (ed.), Sclerotia Grains in Soils, Progress in Soil Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4252-1_6
91
Origin of Soil Polysaccharides,
and Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Sclerotia
as Sources of Forest Soil Polysaccharides
Shigetoshi Murayama and Yuki Sugiura
Abstract Saccharides account for a substantial proportion of soil organic matter. A
better understanding of their origin is of fundamental importance to elucidate how
these substances affect soil properties. This chapter provides overview of origin of
soil polysaccharide, and the monosaccharide composition of various soil of different
land use. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal sclerotia are discussed as sources of forest
soil polysaccharides.
Herbaceous plant materials contained a smaller proportion of galactose, mannose,
and arabinose in the composition than woody plant materials except for fallen
trunk of Maries fir. While, the former contained a larger proportion of non-easily
hydrolysable (NEH) glucose and xylose than the latter.
Differences in the monosaccharide composition between soils and plant materials
suggested that easily hydrolysable (EH) glucose, mannose, fucose, and rhamnose
could be synthesized by soil microbial communities. Tracer experiments using
14 C
and/or
13 C-labeled glucose showed that soil microbial community was unable to
synthesize pentoses in comparable amounts to hexoses, though there was effects of
soil properties and incubation conditions on the relative abundance of saccharide
component synthesized. NEH-glucose was synthesized substantially by the filamentous fungi in a tracer experiment of acidic soil.
Forest soil and forest-derived arable soil had larger proportion of EH-glucose and
mannose, and a smaller proportion of NEH-glucose, arabinose, and xylose than
non-forest soil. These features suggested that forest soil and forest-derived arable
soil have accumulated more abundantly microbe-derived polysaccharides than plantderived ones in comparison to non-forest soil.
S. Murayama (*)
Department of Environmental Bioscience, Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan
Present Address: Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
e-mail: shigetos@ccalumni.meijo-u.ac.jp
Y. Sugiura
Department of Environmental Bioscience, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan
Present Address: Yourou-Cyo, Gifu, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Watanabe (ed.), Sclerotia Grains in Soils, Progress in Soil Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4252-1_6
91