Root carbon consumption and grain yield of spring wheat in response to phosphorus supply under two water regimes

In semiarid areas, cereal crops often alocate more biomass to root at the expense of aboveground yield. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate carbon consumption of roots and its impact on grain yield of spring wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） as affected by water and phosphorus （P） supply. A factorial design was used with six treatments namely two water regimes （at 80–75% and 50–45% ifeld capacity （FC）） and three P supply rates （P1=0, P2=44 and P3=109 μg P g–1 soil）. At shooting and lfowering stages, root respiration and carbon consumption increased with the elevate of P supply rates, regardless of water conditions, which achieved the minimum and maximum at P1 under 50–45% FC and P3 under 80–75% FC, respectively. However, total aboveground biomass and grain yield were higher at P2 under 80–75% FC; and decreased with high P application （P3）. The results indicated that rational or low P supply （80–75% of ifeld water capacity and 44 mg P kg–1 soil） should be recommended to improve grain yield by decreasing root carbon consumption in semiarid areas.

Effect of Excess Fertilizer Phosphorus on Some Chemical Properties of Paddy Soil Derived from Red Soil and Its Relation to Rice Growth

A field experiment with an early rice-late rice rotation was carried out on a paddy soil derived from red soil in the southern part of Zhejiang Province to elucidate the effect of excess P application on some important characteristics of soil properies and its relation to nutrient status and grain yields of rice crops.The experimental results indicated that adequate fertilizer P (15 kg P hm-2) could increase the content of soil available P at the tillering stage of early rice, the contents of N, P and K in the shoots of early rice at primary growth stages, and the grain yield of early rice by increasing valid ears per hectare and weight per thousand grains, which was mainly related to the higher contents of reduced, non-reduced and total sugar in the shoots at the heading stage. And early rice supplied with excessive P could not yield more than that applied with adequate P, due to the reduction in the valid grain percentage and weight per thousand grains.In addition, onestime excess P supply at a rate as high as 90 kg P hm-2 could not improve the soil P fertility in case the soil available P content was lower than the initial (3.74 mg kg-1 soil) after an early rice-late rice rotation, and made a decline in the grain yield increased by per kilogram fertilizer P. Thus, one-time excess P supply should not be adopted for soils with a large P fixation capacity like the paddy soils derived from red soils.

Characterization of extracellular phosphatase activities in periphytic biofilm from paddy field

Periphytic biofilms exist widely in paddy fields, but their influences on the hydrolysis of organic phosphorus(P) have rarely been investigated. In this study,a periphytic biofilm was incubated in a paddy soil solution, and hydrolysis kinetic parameters(half-saturation constant(Km) and maximum catalytic reaction rate(Vmax)), optimal environmental conditions, substrate specificity, and response to different P regimes of the phosphatase activities in the periphytic biofilm were determined, in order to characterize extracellular phosphatase activities in periphytic biofilms from paddy fields. The results indicated that the periphytic biofilm could produce an acid phosphomonoesterase(PMEase), an alkaline PMEases, and a phosphodiesterase(PDEase). These three phosphatases displayed high substrate affinity, with Km values ranging from 141.03 to 212.96 μmol L^(-1). The Vmax/Km ratios for the phosphatases followed the order of alkaline PMEase > acid PMEase > PDEase, which suggested that the PMEases, especially the alkaline PMEase, had higher catalytic efficiency. The optimal pH was 6.0 for the acid PMEase activity and 8.0 for the PDEase activity, and the alkaline PMEase activity increased with a pH increase from 7.0 to 12.0. The optimal temperature was 50℃ for the PMEases and 60℃ for the PDEase. The phosphatases showed high catalytic efficiency for condensed P over a wide pH range and for orthophosphate monoesters at pH 11.0, except for inositol hexakisphosphate at pH 6.0. The inorganic P supply was the main factor in the regulation of phosphatase activities. These findings demonstrated that the periphytic biofilm tested had high hydrolysis capacity for organic and condensed P,especially under P-limited conditions.