Fungal N₂O production in an arable peat soil in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract To clarify the microbiological factors that explain high N2O emission in an arable peat soil in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, a substrate-induced respiration-inhibition experiment was conducted for N2O production. The N2O emission rate decreased by 31% with the addition of streptomycin, whereas it decreased by 81% with the addition of cycloheximide, compared with a non-antibiotic-added control. This result revealed a greater contribution of the fungal community than bacterial community to the production of N2O in the soil. The population density of fungi in the soil, determined using the dilution plate method, was 5.5 log c.f.u. g−1 soil and 4.9 log c.f.u. g−1 soil in the non-selective medium (rose bengal) and the selective medium for Fusarium, respectively. The N2O-producing potential was randomly examined in each of these isolates by inoculation onto Czapek agar medium (pH 4.3) and incubation at 28°C for 14 days. Significant N2O-producing potential was found in six out of 19 strains and in five out of seven strains isolated from the non-selective and selective media, respectively. Twenty-three out of 26 strains produced more than 20% CO2 during the 14-day incubation period, suggesting the presence of facultative fungi in the soil. These strains were identified to be Fusarium oxysporum and Neocosmospora vasinfecta based on the sequence of 18S rDNA, irrespective of the N2O-producing potential and the growth potential in conditions of low O2 concentration.