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Effect of P stoichiometry on the abundance of nitrogen-cycle genes in phosphorus-limited paddy soil

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that phosphorus addition to P-limited soils increases gaseous N loss. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is element stoichiometry (specifically of C:N:P) modifying linked nutrient cycling, leading to enhanced nitrification and denitrification. In this study, we investigated how P stoichiometry influenced the dynamics of soil N-cycle functional genes. Rice seedlings were planted in P-poor soils and incubated with or without P application. Quantitative PCR was then applied to analyze the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing (amoA) and denitrifying (narG nirK, nirS, nosZ) genes in soil. P addition reduced bacterial amoA abundance but increased denitrifying gene abundance. We suggest this outcome is due to P-induced shifts in soil C:P and N:P ratios that limited ammonia oxidization while enhancing P availability for denitrification. Under P application, the rhizosphere effect raised ammonia-oxidizing bacterial abundance (amoA gene) and reduced nirK, nirS, and nosZ in rhizosphere soils. The change likely occurred through greater C input and O2 release from roots, thus altering C availability and redox conditions for microbes. Our results show that P application enhances gaseous N loss potential in paddy fields mainly through stimulating denitrifier growth. We conclude that nutrient availability and elemental stoichiometry are important in regulating microbial gene responses, thereby influencing key ecosystem processes such as denitrification.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41522107; 41430860), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB15020401), National key research and development program (2016YFE0101100), the Australia-China Joint Research Centre – Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality (ACSRF48165), and Youth Innovation Team Project of ISA, CAS (2017QNCXTD_GTD). We thank the Public Service Technology Center, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Regions and Changsha Observation and Research Station for the Agricultural Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Changsha, Hunan Province, 410125, China

    Xiaomeng Wei, Yajun Hu, Zhenke Zhu, Cornelius Talade Atere, Jinshui Wu & Tida Ge

  2. ISA-CAS and UWA Joint Laboratory for Soil Systems Biology, Changsha, Hunan, 410125, China

    Xiaomeng Wei, Anthony G. O’Donnell, Jinshui Wu & Tida Ge

  3. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, 410004, China

    Peiqin Peng

  4. Institute of Agriculture, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Anthony G. O’Donnell

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  1. Xiaomeng Wei
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Wei, X., Hu, Y., Peng, P. et al. Effect of P stoichiometry on the abundance of nitrogen-cycle genes in phosphorus-limited paddy soil. Biol Fertil Soils 53, 767–776 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-017-1221-1

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