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Title: Preparation, characterization, and microbial degradation of specifically radiolabeled (/sup 14/C)lignocelluloses from marine and fresh water macrophytes. [Spartina alterniflora; Juncus roemerianus; Rhizophora mangle; Carex walteriana]

Journal Article · · Appl. Environ. Microbiol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6981401

Specifically radiolabeled (/sup 14/C-lignin)lignocelluloses were prepared from the aquatic macrophytes Spartina alterniflora, Juncus roemerianus, Rhizophora mangle, and Carex walteriana by using (/sup 14/C)phenylalanine, (/sup 14/C)tyrosine, and (/sup 14/C)cinnamic acid as precursors. Specifically radiolabeled (/sup 14/C-polysaccharide)lignocelluloses were prepared by using (/sup 14/C)glucose as precursor. The rates of microbial degradation varied among (/sup 14/C-lignin)lignocelluloses labeled with different lignin precursors within the same plant species. In herbaceous plants, significant amounts (8 to 24%) of radioactivity from (/sup 14/C)phenylalanine and (/sup 14/C)tyrosine were found associated with protein. Microbial degradation of radiolabeled protein resulted in overestimation of lignin degradation rates in lignocelluloses derived from herbaceous aquatic plants. Other differences in degradation rates among (/sup 14/C-lignin)lignocelluloses from the same plant species were attributable to differences in the amount of label being associated with ester-linked subunits of peripheral lignin. After acid hydrolysis of (/sup 14/C-polysaccharide)lignocelluloses, radioactivity was detected in several sugars, although most of the radioactivity was distributed between glucose and xylose. After 576 h of incubation with salt marsh sediments, 38% of the polysaccharide component and between 6 and 16% of the lignin component (depending on the precursor) of J. roemerianus lignocellulose was mineralized to /sup 14/CO/sub 2/; during the same incubation period, 30% of the polysaccharide component and between 12 and 18% of the lignin component of S. alterniflora lignocellulose was mineralized.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Georgia, Athens
OSTI ID:
6981401
Journal Information:
Appl. Environ. Microbiol.; (United States), Vol. 47:2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English