Diverse functions of GmNLA1 members in controlling phosphorus homeostasis highlight coordinate response of soybean to nitrogen and phosphorus availability

Nitrogen(N) and phosphorus(P) are two essential mineral nutrients for plant growth,which are required in relative high amount in plants.Plants have evolved a series of strategies for coordinately acquiring and utilizing N and P.However,physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying of N and P interactions remain largely unclear in soybean(Glycine max).In this study,interactions of N and P were demonstrated in soybean as reflected by significant increases of phosphate(Pi) concentration in both leaves and roots by N deficiency under Pi sufficient conditions.A total of four nitrogen limitation adaptation(NLA),encoding RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase were subsequently identified in soybean genome.Among them,transcription of Gm NLA1-1 and Gm NLA1-3 was decreased in soybean by N starvation under Pi sufficient conditions,not for Gm NLA1-2.Suppression of all three Gm NLA1 members was able to increase Pi concentration regardless of the P and N availability in the growth medium,but decrease fresh weight under normal conditions in soybean hairy roots.However,comparted to changes in control lines at two N levels,N deficiency only resulted in a relatively higher increase of Pi concentration in Gm NLA1-1 or Gm NLA1-3 suppression lines,strongly indicating that Gm NLA1-1 and Gm NLA1-3 might regulate P homeostasis in soybean response to N starvation.Taken together,our result suggest that redundant and diverse functions present in Gm NLA1 members for soybean coordinate responses to P and N availability,which mediate P homeostasis.

Fate of N from Green Manures and Ammonium Sulfate

By means of ^15N tracer technique the fate of N in ammonium sulfate,milk vetch,sesbania and azolla,and the availability of their residual N were studied in a microplot experiment.Results showed that a) at the end of the first crop of early rice,both plant recovery and loss of N from ammonium sulfate were the highest whereas those from azolla were the lowest with those from milk vetch and sesbania in between;the sequence was reversed in terms of recovery of N in soil;the net residual N from ammonium sulfate was very low,about 1/7-1/4 of that from green manures,indicating that chemical N fertilizer contributes little to the soil N reserve;b) plant recovery of the residual N was low and it did not always decrease with time;the total plant recovery (from the second to the fifth crops) of the residual N from various test fertilizers was only 8-11% of the total N originally applied;c) the plant recovery of the residual N from ammonium sulfate was the highest,followed by those from milk vetch and sesbania,and that from azolla was the lowest,no matter in which cropping season (from the second to the fifth);N availability ratio showed the same trend,indicating that chemical N fertilizer helps renovate soil organic N,maintain and increase availability of soil N.

Availability of Nonhydrolyzable Soil Nitrogen

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Comparison of Soil Nitrogen Availability Indices under Two Temperate Forest Types

To evaluate the validity of different indices in estimating soil readily mineralizable N, soil microbial biomass （Nmic）, soil active N （SAN）, soluble organic N （SON）, net N mineralization rate （NNR） and gross N mineralization rate （GNR） in mineral soils （0-10 cm） from six forest stands located in central Germany were determined and compared with two sampling times： April and November. Additionally, soil density fractionation was conducted for incubated soils （with addition of ^15NH4-N and glucose, 40 days） to observe the sink of added ^15N in different soil fractions. The study showed that Nmic and NNR in most stands differed significantly （P 〈 0.05） between the two sampling times, but not GNR, SAN and SON. In November, no close relationships were found between GNR and other N indices, or between Nrnic, SON, and SAN and forest type. However, in April, GNR was significantly correlated （P 〈 0.05） with Nmic, SAN, and NNR along with Nmlc under beech being significantly higher （P 〈 0.05） than under conifers. Furthermore, density fractionation revealed that the light fraction （LF, 0.063-2 mm, 〉 1.7 gcm^-3） was not correlated with the other N indices. In contrast, results from the incubation study proved that more 15N was incorporated into the heavy fraction （HF 〈 0.063 ram, 〉 1.7 g cm^-3） than into LF, indicaing that more labile N existed in HF than in LF. These findings suggested that attention should be paid to the differences existing in N status between agricultural and forest soils.

How Physical Disturbance and Nitrogen Addition Affect the Soil Carbon Decomposition?

The decomposition of soil organic carbon(SOC)plays a critical role in regulating atmospheric CO_(2)concentrations and climate dynamics.However,the mechanisms and factors controlling SOC decomposition are still not fully understood.Here,we conducted a 60 days incubation experiment to test the effects of physical disturbance and nitrogen(N)addition on SOC decomposition.N addition increased the concentration of NO3-by 51%in the soil,but had little effect on the concentration of NH4+.N addition inhibited SOC decomposition,but such an effect differed between disturbed and undisturbed soils.In disturbed and undisturbed soils,application of N decreased SOC decomposition by 37%and 15%,respectively.One possible explanation is that extra N input suppressed microbial N mining and/or increased the stability of soil organic matter by promoting the formation of soil aggregates and incorporating part of the inorganic N into organic matter,and consequently decreased microbial mineralization of soil organic matter.Physical disturbance intensified the inhibition of N on SOC decomposition,likely because physical disturbance allowed the added N to be better exposed to soil microbes and consequently increased the availability of added N.We conclude that physical disturbance and N play important roles in modulating the stability of SOC.

Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Rice Under Cadmium Contamination:Influence of Rice Cultivar Versus Soil Type

There is a need for rice cultivars with high yields and nitrogen(N) use efficiency(NUE), but with low cadmium(Cd) accumulation in Cd-contaminated paddy soils.To determine the relative effects of rice genotype, soil type, and Cd addition on rice grain yield and NUE, a pot experiment consisting of nine rice cultivars was conducted in two types of paddy soils, red soil(RS) and yellow soil(YS),without or with Cd spiked at 0.6 mg kg^(-1).The N supply was from both soil organic N pools and N fertilizers; thus, NUE was defined as the grain yield per unit of total crop-available N in the soil.Cd addition decreased grain yield and NUE in most rice cultivars,which was mainly related to reduced N uptake efficiency(NpUE, defined as the percentage of N taken up by the crop per unit of soil available N).However, Cd addition enhanced N assimilation efficiency(NtUE, defined as the grain yield per unit of N taken up by the crop) by 21.9% on average in all rice cultivars.The NpUE was mainly affected by soil type, whereas NtUE was affected by rice cultivar.Hybrid cultivars had higher NUEs than the japonica and indica cultivars because of their greater biomass and higher tolerance to Cd contamination.Reduction of NUE after Cd addition was stronger in RS than in YS, which was related to the lower absorption capacity for Cd in RS.Canonical correspondence analysis-based variation partitioning showed that cultivar type had the largest effect(34.4%) on NUE, followed by Cd addition(15.2%) and soil type(10.0%).

Soil Respiration, Microbial Biomass C and N Availability in a Sandy Soil Amended with Clay and Residue Mixtures

Crop yields in sandy soils can be increased by addition of clay-rich soil, but little is known about the effect of clay addition on nutrient availability after addition of plant residues with different C/N ratios. A loamy sandy soil （7% clay） was amended with a clay-rich subsoil （73% clay） at low to high rates to achieve soil mixtures of 12%, 22%, and 30% clay, as compared to a control （sandy soil alone） with no clay addition. The sandy-clay soil mixtures were amended with finely ground plant residues at 10 g kg-l： mature wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） straw with a C/N ratio of 68, mature faba bean （Vicia faba L.） straw with a C/N ratio of 39, or their mixtures with different proportions （0% 100%, weight percentage） of each straw. Soil respiration was measured over days 0-45 and microbial biomass C （MBC）, available N, and pH on days 0, 15, 30, and 45. Cumulative respiration was not clearly related to the C/N ratio of the residues or their mixtures, but C use efficiency （cumulative respiration per unit of MBC on day 15） was greater with faba bean than with wheat and the differences among the residue mixtures were smaller at the highest clay addition rate. The MBC concentration was lowest in sole wheat and higher in residue mixtures with 50% of wheat and faba bean in the mixture or more faba bean. Soil N availability and soil pH were lower for the soil mixtures of 22% and 30% clay compared to the sandy soil alone. It could be concluded that soil cumulative respiration and MBC concentration were mainly influenced by residue addition, whereas available N and pH were influenced by clay addition to the sandy soil studied.

Dissolved Organic Nitrogen in Mediterranean Ecosystems

Dissolved organic nitrogen （DON） in soils has recently gained increasing interest because it may be both a direct N source for plants and the dominant available N form in nutrient-poor soils, however, its prevalence in Mediterranean ecosystems remains unclear. The aims of this study were to i） estimate soil DON in a wide set of Mediterranean ecosystems and compare this levels with those for other ecosystems; ii） describe temporal changes in DON and dissolved inorganic nitrogen （DIN） forms （NH＋ and NO3）, and characterize spatial heterogeneity within plant communities; and iii） study the relative proportion of soil DON and DIN forms as a test of Schimel and Bennett＇s hypothesis that the prevalence of different N forms follows a gradient of nutrient availability. The study was carried out in eleven plant communities chosen to represent a wide spectrum of Mediterranean vegetation types, ranging from early to late successional status. DON concentrations in the studied Mediterranean plant communities （0-18.2 mg N kg-1） were consistently lower than those found in the literature for other ecosystems. We found high temporal and spatial variability in soil DON for all plant communities. As predicted by the Schimel and Bennett model for nutrient-poor ecosystems, DON dominance over ammonium and nitrate was observed for most plant communities in winter and spring soil samples. However, mineral-N dominated over DON in summer and autumn. Thus, soil water content may have an important effect on DON versus mineral N dominance in Mediterranean ecosystems

The relative and combined effects of herbivore assemblage and soil nitrogen on plant diversity

Plant diversity can be affected by both herbivore grazing and soil resources. However, it is unclear if the joint effects of herbivores and soil resources might vary with components of plant diversity. Here, we evaluated the relative and combined effects of herbivore assemblage and soil nitrogen(N) quantity and heterogeneity on the α and β components of plant diversity in a grassland that was subjected to four years of grazing under differing herbivore assemblages(no grazing, cattle grazing, sheep grazing, and mixed grazing). We found that herbivore assemblage combined with soil N quantity explained 41% of the variation in plant α-diversity, while herbivore assemblage combined with soil N heterogeneity explained 15% of the variation in plant β-diversity. The independent effects of herbivore assemblage explained more than those of soil N for both α-and β-diversity(α-diversity: 12% vs. 4%;β-diversity: 18% vs. 16%). We concluded that the effects of herbivores are stronger than those of soil N,and that grazing-induced changes in soil resources are important drivers of plant diversity change, especially α-diversity.Therefore, we suggest that managing herbivore species by accounting for the effects that their grazing can have on soil resources may be significant for plant diversity maintenance.

Nitrogen addition mediates the response of foliar stoichiometry to phosphorus addition: a meta-analysis

Background:Changes in foliar nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)stoichiometry play important roles in predicting the efects of global change on ecosystem structure and function.However,there is substantial debate on the efects of P addition on foliar N and P stoichiometry,particularly under diferent levels of N addition.Thus,we conducted a global meta-analysis to investigate how N addition alters the efects of P addition on foliar N and P stoichiometry across different rates and durations of P addition and plant growth types based on more than 1150 observations.Results:We found that P addition without N addition increased foliar N concentrations,whereas P addition with N addition had no efect.The positive efects of P addition on foliar P concentrations were greater without N addition than with N addition.Additionally,the efects of P addition on foliar N,P and N:P ratios varied with the rate and duration of P addition.In particular,short-term or low-dose P addition with and without N addition increased foliar N concentration,and the positive efects of short-term or low-dose P addition on foliar P concentrations were greater without N addition than with N addition.The responses of foliar N and P stoichiometry of evergreen plants to P addition were greater without N addition than with N addition.Moreover,regardless of N addition,soil P availability was more efective than P resorption efciency in predicting the changes in foliar N and P stoichiometry in response to P addition.Conclusions:Our results highlight that increasing N deposition might alter the response of foliar N and P stoichiometry to P addition and demonstrate the important efect of the experimental environment on the results.These results advance our understanding of the response of plant nutrient use efciency to P addition with increasing N deposition.

Plant residues differing in C/N ratio in mulch and soil-the effect of the mulch on nutrient availability and microbial biomass is more pronounced with higher leaching amount

This study investigated the effect of C/N ratio,placement of plant residues,and leaching amounts on soil respiration,microbial biomass,and nutrient availability within four weeks after amendment.Young faba bean shoots(FB,C/N 7)and mature wheat straw(WH,C/N 80)were used as low and high C/N residue,respectively.Soil was unamended,mulched with FB or WH only,or mulched with one residue and mixed with the other residue.Leaching with 5 or 25 mL water was carried out on days 4,12,and 20.Cumulative respiration and microbial biomass N were higher with 25 than 5 mL only in treatments with two residues.WH under FB mulch reduced N availability compared to FB mulch alone,whereas FB under WH increased N availability compared toWHmulch alone.When soils were leached with 25 mL water,available N in FB mulch over WH was lower on day 12,but higher later,compared to WH mulch over FB.In contrast,in WH mulch over FB microbial biomass N increased over time whereas available N decreased.In conclusion,the effect of C/N ratio of the mulch on soil available and microbial biomass N was greater with the higher leaching amount.