Changes in Cytoplasmic Carbon and Nitrogen Pools in a Soil Bacterium and a Fungus in Response to Salt Stress

Abstract

The effects of water potential on the cellular compositions of a soil bacterium and a fungus were examined by growing the organisms in media with various KCl concentrations. In media containing up to 1 M KCl, C/N ratios in Aspergillus flavus increased significantly, while those for a Pseudomonas sp. did not. For both organisms, the proportions of cellular C and N in cytoplasm increased by a factor of 10 as salinity increased from 0 to 1 M KCl. Such compositional changes have implications for microbial biomass dynamics in soils of varying water potential and for biomass measurement by chloroform fumigation.