Microbial necromass dominates soil organic matter. Recent research on necromass and soil carbon storage has focused on necromass production and stabilization mechanisms but not on the mechanisms of necromass retention. We present evidence from soil incubations with stable-isotope labeled necromass that abiotic adsorption may be more important than biotic immobilization for short-term necromass retention. We demonstrate that necromass adsorbs not only to mineral surfaces, but may also interact with other necromass. Furthermore, necromass cell chemistry alters necromass-necromass interaction, with more bacterial tracer retained when there is yeast necromass present. These findings suggest that the adsorption and abiotic interaction of microbial necromass and its functional properties, beyond chemical stability, deserve further investigation in the context of soil carbon sequestration.

微生物坏死占土壤有机质的主导地位。关于坏死和土壤碳存储的最新研究集中在坏死的产生和稳定机制上，而不是坏死保留的机制上。我们从土壤中与稳定同位素标记的坏死菌一起培养中获得的证据表明，对于短期坏死菌保留，非生物吸附可能比生物固定化更为重要。我们证明，坏死分子不仅吸附到矿物表面，而且还可能与其他坏死分子相互作用。此外，坏死细胞化学改变了坏死细胞与坏死细胞的相互作用，当存在酵母坏死细胞时，细菌示踪剂得以保留。这些发现表明，微生物坏死的吸附和非生物相互作用及其功能特性超出了化学稳定性，