Chemical and Microbiological Characterization of Soil under Different Agronomical Use and Practical: First Focus on Nitrogen Cycles

The study of soil ecology and the knowledge of its chemical and biological composition is become one of the principal aim of the environmental research. Most recent studies, based on consolidated knowledge, gives a specific analytical framework that allows to start correlating the biochemical composition of the soil with its particular characteristics and uses. For a sustainable agriculture, it must be adopted alternatives to a disproportionate use of non-organic fertilizers and agro-pharmaceuticals. The practice adopted has also an important effect on the soil and its characteristics, particularly on its chemical and microbiological composition, which varies the capacity of the soil to create and provide eco-systemic activity. The chemical and microbiological composition of the soil has also effect on the quantity and quality of the agricultural product. Today we have the possibility to scientifically measure the effect of these different practices on soil composition and mainly on its biodiversity. In this study some first chemical and biome characterizations, related to the nitrogen cycle, were conducted in sites with different land use and with different agronomic practices, combining methods of chemical and metagenomics analysis. Resulted a high variability in the concentration of organic substance in the soil and no correlation of organic carbon concentration versus organic nitrogen concentration, denoting differences in the quality of the organic matter present. The soil of the ancient biodynamic vineyard shows the highest concentration of DNA found. Unexpectedly, the vegetable garden managed under biological methods shows the lowest concentration of DNA found. The composition of the biome for the bacterial species of nitrogen cycle shows a very complex picture. Some species are always absent and some always present; in a worrying case only the Neisseria species was detected. The work will continue by applying quantitative PCR techniques (Real Time), with which a complete photograph of the state of the microbiome of the analyzed soils will be possible. The applied method seems particularly suitable for bio-geo-chemical insights on the nitrogen cycle in the soil, referred to different use of the soil and in relation to the agronomic practices adopted.