Phospholipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) Analysis: A Robust Indicator for Soil Health?

Abstract

Phospholipid fatty acid, commonly referred to as PLFA, is an analytical concept that emerged in the late 1980 s for estimating composition of soil microbial communities [1]. While it is popular to describe the test as determining types of microbes in soils, in fact PLFA reveals the content of differing extractable phosphorylated-lipids recognized to be cell-wall constituents of microbes [2] extractable from soil with organic solvents .