Abstract
Aims
Biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) can play an important role in inhibiting nitrification and enhancing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in agriculture. However, most current BNI studies have been conducted under hydroponics. Genotypic differences in the inhibition of nitrification in soil are still largely unknown. Our main aim was to investigate the regulation of N transformation processes by different rice genotypes with different BNI release potentials on NUE and N loss.
Methods
Two rice genotypes, i.e. Wuyujing 3 (WYJ3) and Wuyunjing 7 (WYJ7), reported to have weak and strong BNI capacity, respectively, under hydroponic conditions, and four soils with different pH (i.e. JX (pH 5.09), FJ (pH 6.00), SC1 (pH 7.96) and SC2 (pH 7.94)) were selected for this study. Plant N uptake rates (esp. NH4+ uptake, UNH4) and soil N transformation rates were quantified by 15 N tracing to assess the effects of rice genotypes on nitrification inhibition activity. NUE and N loss were quantified in a separate 15 N-urea labeling experiment.
Results
The results showed that the rice genotype with high BNI exudation (i.e. WYJ7) had lower autotrophic nitrification rate (ONH4) and higher UNH4 compared to WYJ3. ONH4 in WYJ7 decreased by 0.05, 0.42, 1.14, and 0.48 mg N kg−1 d−1 compared to WYJ3 for JX, FJ, SC1 and SC2, respectively. The abundance of AOB in soils planted with WYJ7 was lower than in soils planted with WYJ3, which was the most important factor to explain the variation of ONH4. WYJ7 tends to have a relatively higher NUE than WYJ3 in JX, SC1 and SC2. NUE was negatively correlated with ONH4.
Conclusion
Our results indicate that some rice genotypes can optimize their N acquisition by regulating soil N transformations (especially nitrification). The development of rice genotypes with strong BNI exudation capacity could be a suitable management practice to increase NUE and yield.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number U20A20107, and 41830642], Postgraduate Research&Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province [KYCX21_1353], and the "Double World-Classes" Development in Geography project. The study was carried out as part of the IAEA funded coordinated research project “Minimizing farming impacts on climate change by enhancing carbon and nitrogen capture and storage in Agro-Ecosystems (D1.50.16)” and was carried out in close collaboration with the German Science Foundation research unit DASIM (FOR 2337).
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Chen, S., He, M., Zhao, C. et al. Rice genotype affects nitrification inhibition in the rhizosphere. Plant Soil 481, 35–48 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05609-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05609-9