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This research was to examine the impacts of long-term integrated rice–crayfish farming on soil nutrients, carbon pools, and rice yields in paddy fields. The aim was to establish a scientific basis for the sustainable development of RS in the northern region of Zhejiang. The results showed that the change from rice monoculture (CK) to rice–crayfish coculture systems (RS) led to a 24.99% increase in the 5-year average of soil ammonium nitrogen (AN), while the soil nitrate nitrogen (NN), available potassium (AK), and available phosphorus content (AP) decreased by 28.02%, 16.05%, and 28.76%, respectively. Moreover, the total organic carbon (TOC), easily oxidizable organic carbon (EOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) exhibited a reduction of 2.45%, 8.82%, 35.31%, and 65.84%, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between NN, EOC, and MBC in the RS mode. In terms of rice yield, the 5-year average of rice yield in RS decreased by 8.40% compared to CK. The mean yield of early-maturing rice varieties was reduced by 13.16%, while that of late-maturing rice varieties was reduced by 6.00%. These results shed light on the annual variation in soil nutrients, carbon pools, and rice yield in the RS mode, providing insights for the sustainable development of RS in northern Zhejiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhizosphere plays an important role in altering cadmium (Cd) solubility in paddy soils and Cd accumulation in rice. However, more studies are needed to elucidate the mechanism controlling rice Cd solubility and bioavailability under different rhizosphere conditions to explain the discrepancy of previous studies. A rice culture with nutrient solution and vermiculite was conducted to assess the effects of pH, Eh, and iron (Fe) concentration on Cd, Fe fractions on the vermiculite/root surface and their uptake by rice. The solution pH was set from 4.5 to 7.5, with additions of Fe (30 and 50 mg L −1) and Cd (0.5 and 0.9 mg L −1). At pH 5.5, the Eh in the rice rhizosphere was higher whereas transpiration, Cd 2+, and Fe 2+ adsorption on the vermiculite/root surface and accumulation in rice were lower than the other pH treatments. Cadmium addition had no impact on pH and Eh in rice rhizosphere while Fe addition decreased pH and increased Eh significantly. Compared with control, Fe addition resulted in the decrease of rhizosphere Cd, Fe solubility and bioavailability. Higher redox potential in the rice rhizosphere resulted in the decline of transpiration, Cd, and Fe accumulation in the rice tissues, suggesting that the transfer of two elements from soil to rice was depressed when the rhizosphere was more oxidized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hydroponic experiment was conducted to investigate the dynamic variations of cadmium (Cd) uptake and transport, non-protein thiols (NPT) and glutathione (GSH) concentrations, glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity and lipid peroxidation under Cd stress in order to clarify the role of NPT and GST in reducing Cd toxicity and translocation in rice ( Oryza sativa L.). Cadmium accumulation was initially fast and then slowed down with increasing time of Cd exposure. However, the rice growth inhibition and lipid peroxidation were not intense until 5d after Cd treatment, even though Cd kept accumulating in root and shoot, suggesting that Cd may be effectively detoxified. The concentrations of NPT in root increased gradually until 5d after Cd stress, whereas those in shoot showed no significant changes. The concentration of shoot GSH was progressively enhanced upon Cd treatment, while it gradually declined in root after an initial increase. The GST activity varied similarly in root and shoot, reaching the maximum level on 3rd day, followed by a significant decrease 5 d after Cd application. Significant increases of lipid peroxidation and root-to-shoot translocation on 7th day indicate that the equilibrium in Cd-thiol interaction in rice might be disturbed upon the prolonged Cd exposure. In summary, our results suggest that Cd may be retained and detoxified in rice root through chelation with thiol compounds and subsequent sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pig-biogas residue is widely used as organic fertilizer for rice (Oryza sativa L.) in China. To evaluate the risk of heavy metal contamination in paddy soil and rice grains caused by long-term pig-biogas residue fertilization, this study was conducted in paddy fields which had been fertilized continuously with pig-biogas residue for 8 years. We found that pig-biogas residues contained high concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). As a result, the concentrations of these four metals in paddy soils and rice grains sampled from biogas residue fertilized fields were significantly higher than those from control fields. In addition, in biogas residue fertilized fields, the concentrations of these four metals rapidly increased in the tillage layer compared with those in deep soil layers, and biological availability was significantly higher than in control fields. Moreover, we found that the accumulation of these four metals in paddy soils and rice grains increased in the second year compared with the first year. To reduce heavy metal accumulation in rice grains, we screened for rice genotype among 20 local rice genotypes. We found obvious genotypic differences in grains’ accumulation of heavy metals, and identified some rice genotypes which had low accumulation of multiple heavy metals. These low-accumulating genotypes predicate the possibility to reduce heavy metal accumulation in rice grains grown in pig-biogas residue fertilized fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of cultivar and grain position on rice quality under different water management treatments. Water treatments significantly affected all quality traits in the study, except alkali digestibility (AD). There were significant interactions of water treatment by grain position and genotype for brown rice rate (BRR), chalky grain rate (CGR) and amylose content (AC), and interactions of grain position by water treatment and cultivar for head milled rice rate (HMRR). The interaction of water treatment by genotype for protein content (PC) was also significant. Of all variance components, water treatment ranked the highest for PC. Similarly grain position was ranked the highest for AC, BRR, CGR and HMRR. In comparison with wet cultivation, plastic-film mulched cultivation had significantly lower BRR, HMRR, CGR and higher PC. There were marked differences in milled quality, appearance and AD among differently positioned grains within a spike. For appearance and PC, the difference between plastic-film mulched cultivation and wet cultivation was greater for upland rice than paddy rice. For milled and cooking–eating quality, the difference between plastic-film mulched cultivation and wet cultivation was greater for the good quality paddy rice than the upland rice and the poor quality paddy rice. In plastic-film mulched cultivation, top grains showed lower milled quality and PC. While in wet cultivation, the opposite result was seen. With the decrease in soil water content, BRR and appearance showed increased and decreased differences among grains within a spike, respectively. The results indicate the possibility of improving rice quality by use of better water management and suitable cultivars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pollution by antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) in soil can pose a great threat to human health. Straw-returning is widely applied to paddy fields for improving and remediating soil. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of straw-returning on Sb and As transformation and translocation in a soil–rice system. In this study, Sb and As co-contaminated soil was thoroughly mixed with different proportions (0, 0.5, 1, and 2%) of straw and used for growing rice plants through the entire growing stage in a pot experiment and 4 weeks in a microcosm experiment. The straw application significantly increased Sb and As mobility. The concentrations of total Sb and As in soil-pore water increased after the application of straw in most growing stages. The Sb volatilization in the pot and microcosm experiments was also stimulated by straw application. With the high dose of straw application (2%), the concentration of Sb in brown grain was reduced by 72% compared with the control, but As concentrations increased by around 77%. These findings provide a new perspective in that straw-returning could affect the behavior of both Sb and As in soil and reduce the Sb accumulation in brown grain and some guidance in the use of straw-returning in Sb-contaminated paddy soil. Image 1 • Straw-returning promoted the release of Sb and As from soil to pore water. • Straw-returning stimulated the volatilization of Sb and As from paddy soil. • Straw-returning decreased Sb translocation from straw to grain. • 2% straw application reduced Sb concentration in rice grain compared with control. Straw-returning promoted the release and volatilizations of Sb and As from soil, as well as reducing the Sb content, but increasing the As content in rice brown grain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice plants are the habitat for large and diverse populations of microbes, which play important roles on rice health and productivity. However, the response of microbiome on rice culm to water flooding is poorly understood. In this study, the bacterial community on non-flooded (RSA) and flooded (RSB) rice culms was investigated through 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that RSA and RSB had significantly distinct bacterial communities. In RSA, Gammaproteobacteria and Pantoea were the most abundant class (57%), genus (37.06%), respectively, while in RSB, the most abundant phylum and genus was Firmicutes (54%) and Bacillus (52.63%), respectively. Compared with RSA, the abundance of 27 genera significantly increased and 21 genera significantly decreased in RSB, and some remarkably changed species, such as Aeromonas, Bacillus were identified, which are sensitive to non-flooded or flooded conditions. In addition, rare operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was much more than abundant OTUs in all samples, and RSB had significantly higher bacterial richness than RSA due to having more rare taxa. Our study would advance the insights into the microbiome of rice culms and its response to flooding, which would help to identify potential beneficial bacteria for improving crop health and sustainable productivity in agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field scale trials revealed significant genotypic and environmental differences in grain heavy metal (HM) concentrations of 158 newly developed rice varieties grown in twelve locations of Zhejiang province of China. Grain Pb and Cd contents in 5.3% and 0.4% samples, respectively, were above the maximum permissible concentration (MPC); none of samples had Cr/Cu exceeding MPC. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis estimated soil HM critical levels for safe rice production. Low grain HM accumulation cultivars such as Xiushui817, Jiayou08-1 and Chunyou689 were recommended as suitable cultivars for planting in slight/medium HM contaminated soils. The alleviating regulator (AR) of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 as N fertilizer coupled with foliar spray of a mixture containing glutathione (GSH), Si, Zn and Se significantly decreased grain Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb concentrations grown in HM contaminated fields with no effect on yield, indicating a promising measurement for further reducing grain HM content to guarantee safe food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of investigations on mechanisms underlying yield difference between superior and conventional cultivars has focused on the grain-filling stage after anthesis. However, the physiological process before anthesis has been less explored. We aimed to quantify the contribution of canopy photosynthesis at pre-anthesis stage to grain yield formation and clarify the mechanism underlying the yield advantage of the superior cultivars. This study selected representative cultivars of indica and japonica rice, each type having a pair of cultivars with ideal plant architecture (IPA) and conventional architecture. Field experiments over four years (2019–2022) were conducted to compare the relevance of canopy photosynthesis to yield formation between the phases before and after anthesis. The two IPA cultivars, JYZK-6 and ZZY-1, produced higher grain yield than the two conventional cultivars, NJ-5055 and HHZ. JYZK-6 and ZZY-1 also had good distribution of light interception inside the canopy, with the middle and lower part receiving more light than NJ-5055 and HHZ. At leaf level, there was no significant difference in photosynthetic rate between the two types of cultivars. At canopy level, the IPA cultivars had stronger photosynthetic activities before anthesis, outperforming NJ-5055 by 35.56% in averaged canopy photosynthesis, and by 46.65% in averaged daily net photosynthetic accumulation in 2021–2022. By contrast, canopy photosynthesis after anthesis was not significantly different between the two types. The IPA cultivars stored heavier biomass in internodes and sheaths before anthesis and remobilized more reserves to the developing grains, with the remobilization rate being 16.42% (internodes) and 35.34% (sheaths) higher than NJ-5055 and HHZ. The higher canopy productivity before anthesis is one of the main reasons accounting for the superior IPA cultivars, suggesting the necessity of optimizing plant growth and development during the vegetative and reproductive phases. • Canopy photosynthesis was compared between IPA and conventional cultivars. • IPA cultivars had a good distribution of light interception inside the canopy. • IPA cultivars had stronger canopy photosynthetic activities before anthesis. • We suggest the necessity of optimizing canopy structure development before anthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]