Nutrient uptake requirements with increasing grain yield for rice in China

Improved estimates of nutrient requirements for rice （Oryza sativa L.） in China are essential to optimize fertilization regulation for increasing grain yields and reducing the potential of environmental negative influences, especially under high-yielding intensive systems. A database involving rice grain yields, nutrient concentrations and accumulations collected from on-field station experiments in the literatures published from 2000 to 2013 in China was developed to understand the relationships between grain yields and plant nutrient uptakes, and to quantify nutrient requirements for different yield levels. Considering all data sets, rice grain yield ranged from 1.4 to 15.2 t ha^-1 with the mean value of 7.84 t ha^-1, and ca. 10.4% of yield observa- tions were higher than the yield barrier level of 10 t ha^-1. N requirement to produce one ton grain was 21.10 kg for the yield range 〈4.0 t ha^-1 with a high variation of 45.8%. Except of the yield range 〈4.0 t ha^-1, the values of N requirement, firstly increased from 18.78 kg for yield range 4.0-5.5 t ha^-1 to 20.62 kg for yield range 7.0-8.5 t ha^-1, then decreased slightly to 19.67 and 19.17 kg for the yield range 8.5-10 and 〉10 t ha^-1, respectively. Phosphorus （P） and potassium （K） requirements showed increasing trends, from 3.51 and 19.87 kg per t grain for 〈4.0 t ha^-1 yield range to 4.10 and 21.70 kg for 〉10.0 t ha^-1 range. In conclusion, nutrient requirement varied with increasement of grain yield, and N, P and K presented various response trends, increasing, declining or stagnating, which would be of great benefit for improving fertilizer strategies.

Coupling changes of soil functional gene abundances and extracellular enzyme activities across the diagnostic horizons of agricultural Isohumosols

Soil functional microbial taxa and extracellular enzymes are involved in a variety of biogeochemical cycling processes.Although many studies have revealed the vertical change patterns of microbial communities along soil profile,the general understanding of the coupling changes in the functional gene abundances(FGAs)and extracellular enzyme activities(EEAs)in soil profiles is still limited,which hinders us from revealing soil ecosystem processes.Herein,we comparatively investigated the FGAs and EEAs in the diagnostic A,B,and C horizons of soil profiles obtained from two suborders of Isohumosols(Mollisols),Ustic and Udic Isohumosols,in Northeast China based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and standard fluorometric techniques,respectively.The distribution patterns of both FGAs and EEAs significantly distinguished by the two soil suborders and were also separated from A to C horizon.Additionally,the variations of EEAs and FGAs were greater in Udic Isohumosols compared to Ustic Isohumosols along soil profiles,and greater changes were observed in C horizon than in A horizon.Both FGAs and EEAs correspondently decreased along the soil profiles.However,when normalized by soil organic carbon,the specific EEAs significantly increased in deep soil horizons,suggesting that microorganisms will input more resources to the production of enzymes to ensure microbial nutrient requirements under resource scarcity.More importantly,we revealed that soil microbial nutrient demands were limited by carbon(C)and phosphorus(P),and the C and P limitations significantly increased along soil profiles with a greater C limitation observed in Ustic Isohumosols than in Udic Isohumosols.Overall,our findings provided solid evidence showing the links between FGAs,EEAs,and microbial nutrient limitations,which would be helpful for a better understanding of the ecosystem processes in soil profiles.

Nutritional modulation of health, egg quality and environmental pollution of the layers

World egg production and consumption have been increasing for the past decades. Traditional strategies in poultry nutrition have made vital contributions to this great growth in quantity. However, current global issues should be considered in modern egg production such as growing populations and food security, food safety and quality, limited resources and environmental problems. The development of knowledge of poultry nutrition and modern biotechnology provides novel nutritional approaches to closely fit the requirement of pullets and laying hens, which will consequently decrease the nutrition excretion and maintain the lower cost of feed. Nutrition has also been widely accepted as a strategy to influence health and diseases of laying hens. The maintenance of good health is an important prerequisite for improving productivity and egg quality. In addition, there are many measures and strategies for minimizing the incidence of egg defects and providing a choice of lifestyle to enhance human health. This paper reviews current research progress on developing innovative technologies and strategies to maximize animal health and performance, improve the quality of egg products and minimize pollution caused by poultry production.