Abstract
Background and aims
It is known that nitrogen (N) input modulates the rhizosphere priming effect (RPE); however, the magnitude and driving mechanisms of priming under increasing rates of fertilizer application remain unclear.
Methods
15N-urea (control, 75 (N75), 150 (N150), 225 (N225), and 300 (N300) kg N ha−1) was applied to a plant (maize)-soil (rice paddy) system and the RPE was monitored during the trumpet period (the most active stage) of plant growth.
Results
Addition of N decreased soil-derived CO2 emission by 21.1–49.3% in the presence of plants. The RPE declined following N input in the control−N150 as a result of low microbial C:N imbalance, which decreased enzyme activities due to low microbial N mining and microbial activation, and high microbial metabolic efficiency (MME). In contrast, the RPE increased following N input in the N150 − N300, which was attributed to the high microbial C:N imbalance causing low MME, rather than the promotion of microbial N mining or microbial activation mechanisms. The microbial C:N imbalance was the result of N competition between microorganisms and plants.
Conclusions
Thus, the combination of enzyme activities and MME mediates N-regulated RPE, while N competition drives the switching of RPE mechanisms.
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Abbreviations
- N:
-
Nitrogen
- C:
-
Carbon
- SOM:
-
Soil organic matter
- RPE:
-
Rhizosphere priming effect
- MME:
-
Microbial metabolic efficiency
- WHC:
-
Water holding capacity
- MBC:
-
Microbial biomass carbon
- MBN:
-
Microbial biomass nitrogen
- DOC:
-
Dissolved organic carbon
- DON:
-
Dissolved total nitrogen
- BG:
-
β-1,4-glucosidase
- NAG:
-
β-1,4-N–acetylglucosaminidase
- LAP:
-
L-leucine aminopeptidase
- PO:
-
Phenol oxidase
- CUE:
-
Carbon use efficiency
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Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFD0300203-4) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31870419). Z.J. and J.Y. planned and designed the research. Z.J., Y.L. and Z.Z. performed experiments and analyzed data. Z.J., J.Y. and G.A. wrote the manuscript.
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Jiang, Z., Liu, Y., Yang, J. et al. Effects of nitrogen fertilization on the rhizosphere priming. Plant Soil 462, 489–503 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04872-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04872-6