Evaluation of an optimal extraction method for measuring d-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) in agricultural soils and its association with soil microbial CO2 assimilation

Assimilating atmospheric carbon (C) into terrestrial ecosystems is recognized as a primary measure to mitigate global warming. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) is the dominant enzyme by which terrestrial autotrophic bacteria and plants fix CO2. To investigate the possibility of using RubisCO activity as an indicator of microbial CO2 fixation potential, a valid and efficient method for extracting soil proteins is needed. We examined three methods commonly used for total soil protein extraction. A simple sonication method for extracting soil protein was more efficient than bead beating or freeze–thaw methods. Total soil protein, RubisCO activity, and microbial fixation of CO2 in different agricultural soils were quantified in an incubation experiment using 14C-CO2 as a tracer. The soil samples showed significant differences in protein content and RubisCO activity, defined as nmol CO2 fixed g−1 soil min−1. RubisCO activities ranged from 10.68 to 68.07 nmol CO2 kg−1 soil min−1, which were closely related to the abundance of cbbL genes (r = 0.900, P = 0.0140) and the rates of microbial CO2 assimilation (r = 0.949, P = 0.0038). This suggests that RubisCO activity can be used as an indicator of soil microbial assimilation of atmospheric CO2.