Supplementary material to "Revisiting chlorophyll extraction methods in biological soil crusts – methodology for determination of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll a + b as compared to previous methods"

Abstract. Chlorophyll concentrations of biological soil crust (biocrust) samples are commonly determined to quantify the relevance of photosynthetically active organisms within these surface soil communities. Whereas chlorophyll extraction methods for freshwater algae and leaf tissues of vascular plants are well established, there is still some uncertainty regarding the optimal extraction method for biocrusts, where organism composition is highly variable and samples comprise major amounts of soil. In this study we analyzed the efficiency of two different chlorophyll extraction solvents, the effect of grinding the soil samples prior to the extraction procedure and the impact of shaking as an intermediate step during extraction. The analyses were conducted on four different types of biocrusts. Our results show, that for all biocrust types chlorophyll contents obtained with ethanol were significantly lower than those obtained with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as solvent. Grinding of biocrust samples prior to analysis caused a highly significant decrease in chlorophyll content for green algal lichen- and cyanolichen-dominated biocrusts, and a tendency towards lower values for moss- and algae-dominated biocrusts. Shaking of the samples after each extraction step had a significant positive effect on the chlorophyll content of green algal lichen- and cyanolichen-dominated biocrusts. Based on our results we confirm a DMSO-based chlorophyll extraction method without grinding pretreatment and suggest to insert an intermediate shaking step for complete chlorophyll extraction (see supplement S6 for detailed manual). Determination of a universal chlorophyll extraction method for biocrusts is essential for the inter-comparability of studies conducted across all continents.

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Ethanol outperforms multiple solvents in the extraction of chlorophyll-a from biological soil crusts

Soil Biology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.12.007 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 857-861 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Shubin Lan ◽

Li Wu ◽

Delu Zhang ◽

Chunxiang Hu ◽

Yongding Liu

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll A ◽

Biological Soil Crusts ◽

Soil Crusts

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Growth of soil algae and cyanobacteria on gold mine tailings material

South African Journal of Science ◽

10.17159/sajs.2017/20160384 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 113 (11/12) ◽

Author(s):

Tanya Seiderer ◽

Arthurita Venter ◽

Fanus van Wyk ◽

Anatoliy Levanets ◽

Anine Jordaan

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll A ◽

Mine Tailings ◽

Algal Growth ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Biological Soil Crusts ◽

Gold Mine ◽

Soil Algae ◽

Soil Crusts ◽

Gold Mine Tailings ◽

Surface Crust

The goal of revegetation of gold mine tailings storage facilities is to reduce aeolian pollution, nutrient leaching and erosion caused by exposure to wind and water. The establishment of biological soil crusts may prove to be a more cost-effective way to reach the same goal and the aim of this study was therefore to determine if it is possible to establish algae and cyanobacteria on gold mine tailings. Different treatments of Chlamydomonas, Microcoleus and Nostoc were inoculated on gold mine tailings in controlled conditions and algal growth was measured on all of the treatments after 6 weeks. Nostoc treatments had the highest chlorophyll-a concentrations and produced a surface crust, while Chlamydomonas treatments penetrated the tailings material and provided the strongest crust. The results were promising but more research is necessary to determine the best organism, or combination of organisms, to colonise mine tailings and to eventually produce biological crusts.

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Supplementary material to "Development of bacterial communities in biological soil crusts along a revegetation chronosequence in the Tengger Desert, northwest China"

10.5194/bg-2017-139-supplement ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Lichao Liu ◽

Yubing Liu ◽

Peng Zhang ◽

Guang Song ◽

Rong Hui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Communities ◽

Northwest China ◽

Biological Soil Crusts ◽

Tengger Desert ◽

Soil Crusts ◽

Supplementary Material ◽

The Tengger Desert

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Determination of Chlorophyll in Water by Fluorophotometry with Chlorophyll-A Extraction from Microcystis aeruginosa Instead of Chlorophyll Standard Substance

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.726-731.1269 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 726-731 ◽

pp. 1269-1274 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jian Sheng Cui ◽

Yu Xin Cheng ◽

Xiao Hui Xu

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll A ◽

Microcystis Aeruginosa ◽

Fluorescence Intensity ◽

Ph Value ◽

Freshwater Lakes ◽

Standard Substance ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Chlorophyll Extraction ◽

The Relationship

Microcystis aeruginosa is common in freshwater lakes, and developed easy. Instead of chlorophyll standard substance, fresh chlorophyll extraction from Microcystis aeruginosa applied to the determination of chlorophyll-a in water by fluorophotometry. Thus the relationship between concentration of chlorophyll-a and fluorescence intensity of Microcystis aeruginosa in water was established. The fluorescence intensity responded with the concentration of chlorophyll-a extract linearly in the range of 30~1800 ug/L with a correlative coefficient of 0.9947. Comparision was made between chlorophyll standard and the chlorophyll-a extraction of Microcystis aeruginosa, and no significant difference was found. In certain range of pH value and time, chlorophyll-a extraction from Microcystis aeruginosa is stable, and can be used to reflect the growth of algae in water quick, conveniently and accurately.

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