The effect of soil extraction procedures and/or sample pretreatment (drying, freezing of the soil sample) on the extractability of cadmium and lead was tested in a model experiment, with an employment of optical emission and atomic absorption spectrometry methods. In the first part, 6 extraction procedures were compared: 2 mol l HNO3, 0.43 mol l CH3COOH, 0.05 mol l EDTA, Mehlich III extraction ...

3843 ABSTRACT Freeze-tolerant organisms survive internal ice formation; however, the adaptations to repeated freeze–thaw cycles are often not well investigated. Here we report how three geographically different populations of Enchytraeus albidus (Germany, Iceland and Svalbard) respond to three temperature treatments – constant thawed (0°C), constant freezing (−5°C) and fluctuating temperature (...

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Most of the Earth's biosphere is characterized by low temperatures (<5°C) and cold-adapted microorganisms are widespread. These psychrophiles have evolved a complex range of adaptations of all cellular constituents to counteract the potentially deleterious effects of low kinetic energy environments and the freezing of water. Microbial life continues into the subzero temperature range, and this ...

The methods used in sample preservation may affect the description of the microbial community structure by DNA-based techniques. This study aims at evaluating the effect of different storage conditions, including freezing, adding two liquid-based preservatives or simply storing samples with no preservative, on the structure of the microbial communities in aliquots of organic-rich soil and water...