Degradation of biochemical activity in soil sterilized by dry heat and gamma radiation.

The activities of three enzymes present in soil, phosphatases, urease, and decarboxylase, were monitered as indicators of the loss of biochemical information occurring when soil was sterilized by dry heat (0.08% relative humidity), gamma radiation, or a combination of both. More enzymatic activity was retained in soil sterilized by a long exposure to dry heat at relatively low temperature (8 weeks at 100.5 degrees C) than by a shorter exposure to a higher temperature (2 weeks at 124.5 degrees C). No enzymatic activity was detectable in soil sterilized by an even higher temperature (4 days at 148.5 degrees C). Soil sterilized with 7.5 Mrads of radiation retained much higher enzymatic activity than with heat sterilization. Combining sublethal doses of heat radiation effectively sterilized the soil and yielded enzymatic activities higher than those of soil sterilized by dry heat alone but lower than those of soil sterilized by radiation.