The soil microbial community provides important ecosystem services and is intergral part of soil health and fertility. A microbial cell consists of biomolecules comprising the structural elements C, H, O, N, P, and S. Physiological and structural stability is granted by the ionic elements K, Na, Cl, Ca, and Mg. For fulfilling specific functions proteins like enzymes contain the proteinogenic metals Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Mo. Depending on the kind of organism or the environmental conditions further elements can play specific roles like Se, Co, Ni, W, B, or Si. From the level of single cells to the whole community, sets of elements can be recognised, which are needed for growth and maintenance of the soil microbial biomass and the single processes of the ecosystem services (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2021.126832). However, the ratio of soil microbial biomass C to any other element, i.e. the stoichiometry, needed for running these processes is not known.