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Responses of functional genes involved in nitrogen cycling to green manuring in different paddy soils in south China

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Abstract

Aims

We studied the effects of green manuring on the gene level of microorganisms associated with nitrogen (N) fixation, nitrification, and denitrification in different paddy soils.

Methods

Field experiments were conducted in Hunan, Jiangxi, Henan, and Fujian experimental sites in south China to investigate the responses of rice yield, soil properties, and functional genes to green manuring. The four treatments were no fertilizer application (NF), using milk vetch as green manure without chemical fertilizer (GM), winter fallow with chemical fertilizer (CF), and a combination of green manure and chemical fertilizer (GMCF).

Results

The rice yield and N uptake significantly increased in GMCF. The nifH gene copies significantly increased in GMCF in the Jiangxi and Henan sites. Soil SOM, TN, NH4+-N, NO3−-N, AP, and AK were higher in GMCF than in the other treatments. For the nitrification process, the gene copies of ammonia-oxidizing archaea were higher than those of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in all sites. The nirK and nosZ genes involved in denitrification were negatively correlated with soil properties. With the improvement of soil properties and rice N uptake, the denitrification process was inhibited in the GMCF treatment. The nirK gene was the most critical functional gene influencing rice yield among the tested genes. SOM was the most important factor among soil properties.

Conclusions

The application of green manure improved soil properties and changed the abundance of the functional genes involved in N cycling. Green manure combined with chemical fertilizer increased rice yields and N uptake and inhibited the denitrification process.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

The code used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Jun Nie from Soil and Fertilizer Institute of Hunan Province, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Mr. Changxu Xu from Institute of Soil & Fertilizer and Resource & Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Mr. Chunzeng Liu from Institute of Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Resources and Environmental Science, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Mr. Yuhu Lv from Xinyang Institute of Agricultural Science and Mr. Yibin Huang from Institute of Soil and Fertilizer, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences for their help in field experiment management and sampling.

Funding

This work was supported financially by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFD1700200), China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (Green manure, CARS-22) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (42007071).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Shun Li, Hai Liang, Yun Wang, Zihan Zhang, Lei Zhang & Songjuan Gao

  2. Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs / Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guopeng Zhou & Weidong Cao

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  1. Shun Li
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  3. Yun Wang
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Correspondence to Songjuan Gao or Weidong Cao.

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Li, S., Liang, H., Wang, Y. et al. Responses of functional genes involved in nitrogen cycling to green manuring in different paddy soils in south China. Plant Soil 478, 519–532 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05491-5

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