Response of Soil Microbial Communities to Iron-Porphyrin Catalytic Amendments.

Intensive agricultural practices strongly increase CO2 emission from soil. Synthetic metal-porphyrins were shown to significantly decreased CO2 emission from soil due to an in-situ catalysis of oxidative polymerization of soil organic matter. This research aimed to assess the effects of iron-porphyrin (POR) amendments on soil microbial communities in three arable soils under wheat and maize cropping located in Naples, Turin and Piacenza, characterized by different pedological and climatic conditions. Bulk-soil and rhizo-soil were sampled during 4 years and the microbial groups directly involved in organic matter (OM) mineralization and in key processes of the nitrogen cycle were examined. M…