Diversity of amino acids in a typical chernozem of Moldova

Abstract

The content and composition of the amino acids in typical chernozems were studied. The objects of the study included a reference soil under an old fallow and three variants under fodder crop rotations: not fertilized, with mineral fertilizers, and with organic fertilizers. The contents of 18 amino acids were determined in these soils. The amino acids were extracted by the method of acid hydrolysis and identified by the method of ion-exchange chromatography. The total content of most of the amino acids was maximal in the reference soil; it was much lower in the cultivated soils and decreased in the following sequence: organic background > mineral background > no fertilization. The diversity of amino acids was evaluated quantitatively using different parameters applied in ecology for estimating various aspects of the species composition of communities (Simpson, Margalef, Menhinick, and Shannon’s indices). The diversity and contribution of different amino acids to the total pool of amino acids also varied significantly in the studied variants. The maximum diversity of amino acids and maximum evenness of their relative abundance indices were typical of the reference chernozem; these parameters were lower in the cultivated soils. It was concluded that the changes in the structure of the amino acids under the impact of agricultural loads are similar to those that are usually observed under stress conditions.