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Effect of rice panicle size on paddy field CH4 emissions

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Abstract

Developing large rice (Oryza sativa L.) panicles has been widely regarded as an effective approach to increasing rice yield. However, it is unclear whether panicle size affects CH4 emissions from rice fields, especially during the reproductive stage. Here, we conducted two experiments (rice variety and mutant) to examine the effects of rice panicle size on CH4 emissions. The variety experiment under field conditions at two sites showed that rice yield was significantly and positively correlated with the spikelet number. Mean CH4 emissions during the reproductive stage were significantly and negatively correlated with spikelet number. The rice mutant experiment under pot and field conditions using a wild-type rice variety (WT) and its mutant (Mutant) demonstrated that CH4 emissions were significantly lower in the former with large panicles than in the later with small panicles, during the reproductive and grain filling stages (P < 0.01), whereas the rice yields showed an opposite. Root exudates and soil dissolved organic C concentration were significantly lower under the WT than under the Mutant. Soil CH4 production potential and mcrA gene copy number of the soil under Mutant were significantly higher than those of the soil under WT. There was no significant difference in soil CH4 oxidation potential and pmoA gene copy number between soils of these two rice varieties. Our results suggest that developing large panicles would benefit rice production for high yield with low CH4 emission.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Technology Support Program of China (2011BAD16B14; 2015BAC02B02), Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201503122), the Innovation Program of CAAS, the grant of China Scholarship Council (CSC), and Youth Science and Technology Innovation Foundation of Nanjing Agricultural University (Grant No. KJ2012002)

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Institute of Applied Ecology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

      Yu Jiang, Yanni Sun, Yi Zhang, Xiaoning Hang & Weijian Zhang

    2. Institute of Rice, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

      Yunlu Tian

    3. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing, 401329, China

      Xiaoning Hang

    4. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Crop Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

      Aixi Deng, Jun Zhang & Weijian Zhang

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    1. Yu Jiang
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    Correspondence to Weijian Zhang.

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    Yu Jiang and Yunlu Tian contributed equally to this work.

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    Jiang, Y., Tian, Y., Sun, Y. et al. Effect of rice panicle size on paddy field CH4 emissions. Biol Fertil Soils 52, 389–399 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-015-1084-2

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