Gross N transformation rates in soil system with contrasting Urochloa genotypes do not confirm the relevance of BNI as previously assessed in vitro

Teutscherová, Nikola; Vázquez, Eduardo; Trubač, Jakub; Villegas, Daniel M.; Subbarao, Guntur V.; Pulleman, Mirjam; Arango, Jacobo

doi:10.1007/s00374-021-01610-z

Original Paper
Published: 24 November 2021

Gross N transformation rates in soil system with contrasting Urochloa genotypes do not confirm the relevance of BNI as previously assessed in vitro

Nikola Teutscherová^1,2,
Eduardo Vázquez^2,3,
Jakub Trubač⁴,
Daniel M. Villegas²,
Guntur V. Subbarao⁵,
Mirjam Pulleman^2,6 &
Jacobo Arango²

Biology and Fertility of Soils volume 58, pages 321–331 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The capacity of several plant species or landraces to inhibit nitrification in soil (biological nitrification inhibition, BNI) has been assessed in certain tropical pastures. These assessments are commonly based on potential net nitrification rates, which do not differentiate between gross nitrification and other processes that may reduce the amount of nitrate in soil. In a greenhouse experiment using two genotypes of Urochloa humidicola with contrasting BNI capacity in vitro, we evaluated gross N transformation rates before and after (7 and 21 days) N fertilization, while periodically measuring N₂O emissions. Gross nitrification rates (in fact gross nitrate production assessed by pool dilution technique) were comparable in both genotypes and were low in comparison to strong microbial NH₄⁺ immobilization. The N₂O emissions were higher in pots with low-BNI plants. The discrepancy between the potential net nitrification rates assessed in laboratory assays (higher in low-BNI plants) and gross nitrification in pot or field experiments (no differences between genotypes) can be attributed to the out-competition of ammonia oxidizers by plant N uptake and ammonia immobilizing heterotrophic microbes, resulting in low nitrification under conditions where growing plants are present. This study confirmed the capacity of certain U. humidicola genotypes to reduce N₂O emissions but warrants further investigation of the underlying mechanisms. It also questions the relevance of BNI in the rhizosphere of this plant species as other mechanisms (rather than the inhibition of gross nitrification) seem to be more important in maintaining low-nitrate soil environments in soil–plant systems of U. humidicola.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the CIAT staff who collaborated with the soil collection, experiment establishment and maintenance at CIAT Headquarters in Palmira, Colombia. In addition, Eduardo Vázquez thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education for his FPU fellowship.

Funding

This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Programs (CRP) on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); and the Livestock CRP. We gratefully acknowledge funding from BBSRC project grants RCUK-CIAT Newton Fund—Advancing sustainable forage-based livestock production systems in Colombia (CoForLife) (BB/S01893X/1), and the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) GROW Colombia grant via the UK’s BBSRC (BB/P028098/1). Financial support was also obtained from the Internal Grant Agency of Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (20213110) and from Center for Geosphere Dynamics (UNCE/SCI/006).

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Authors and Affiliations

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Nikola Teutscherová
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Palmira, Colombia
Nikola Teutscherová, Eduardo Vázquez, Daniel M. Villegas, Mirjam Pulleman & Jacobo Arango
Department of Soil Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
Eduardo Vázquez
Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Jakub Trubač
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Ibaraki, Japan
Guntur V. Subbarao
Soil Biology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Mirjam Pulleman

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Nikola Teutscherová
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Eduardo Vázquez
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Jakub Trubač
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Daniel M. Villegas
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Guntur V. Subbarao
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Mirjam Pulleman
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Jacobo Arango
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Teutscherová, N., Vázquez, E., Trubač, J. et al. Gross N transformation rates in soil system with contrasting Urochloa genotypes do not confirm the relevance of BNI as previously assessed in vitro. Biol Fertil Soils 58, 321–331 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-021-01610-z

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Received: 30 May 2021
Revised: 27 October 2021
Accepted: 09 November 2021
Published: 24 November 2021
Issue Date: April 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-021-01610-z

Keywords

Tropical forage
Gross nitrogen transformations
Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Schweick (syn. Brachiaria humidicola)
N₂O emissions
Biological nitrification inhibition