Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Research Project #437314

Research Project: Assessment of Metabolites in Soil Treated with Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation

Location: Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research

Project Number: 6034-22000-043-024-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Mar 1, 2020
End Date: Aug 31, 2020

Objective:
The purpose of the current project is to investigate the biochemical composition of anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD)-treated soil samples using high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). A synergistic approach involving the development of sustainable agricultural practices and NMR assessment of metabolite profiles is utilized to identify new antimicrobial compounds in the soil. This work seeks to: 1) identify metabolic compounds and other novel bioactive metabolites present in soil samples subjected to ASD using NMR; 2) determine the relationship between the biochemical composition and pathogen suppressive properties of ASD-treated soils. The innovation of this approach is that NMR offers the potential to determine the three-dimensional structure of novel metabolites identified in ASD-treated soils allows for detailed understanding of antimicrobial mechanisms in these agricultural systems.

Approach:
Both a 600 MHz instrument capable of the high-resolution NMR studies and a 600 MHz NMR capable of high-throughput samples analysis (96 samples per run) will be used to analyze metabolites specifically produced under anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD). Approaches for the analysis include: 1) scale-up soil extraction methodology to enrich for compounds that are novel, unknown metabolites; 2) confirm the chemical identify of the remaining unknown compound using both high-field NMR (and mass spectrometry if necessary); 3) publish the manuscript reporting on depth-dependent changes in the biochemical composition of ASD-treated soil samples.