Search

The use of green manure plants for soil restoration is a viable agricultural practice that can mitigate soil degradation and biodiversity loss caused by the long-term application of inorganic fertilizers. However, the effects of green manure on soil microbial communities, rice yield, and quality in the karst mountains are largely unknown. The effects of no chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer + different Astragalus sinicus L. (Chinese milk vetch, CMV) treatments on the microbial community, soil enzyme activities, soil nutrient content, and crop yield were investigated through field experiments. A moderate application of chemical fertilizer with green manure can increase chlorophyll content, increase effective rice spikes, positive impact on rice yield, and increase crude protein, etc. Additional application of the moderate amount of CMV can increase alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen and available phosphorus (a significant increase of 54.87–72.65%), improve microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) (CFMV2 significantly increased by 22.16%), improve soil urease and phosphatase activities, and the urease activity increased by 43.43–69.24% with CMV application compared to CK. Moreover, all bacterial communities were dominated by three major phyla (Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria), where the application of chemical fertilizer with CMV increased the ratio of abundance of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria in rice soils, and the effect of chemical fertilizer application on the dominant bacteria was regulated to some extent by additional green manure application, which may have a beneficial effect on rice yield. Therefore, we conclude that the rational use of chemical fertilizers with CMV (22,500 kg ha−1) in karst landscapes is one of the effective measures to achieve efficient and sustainable use of rice fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Excessive application of chemical fertilizer has resulted in lower nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency of crops, decreasing soil fertility, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and worse environmental pollution. Organic material retention is regard as the key to solve these problems. The objective of this study is to conduct an assessment of carbon budget under Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention combined with reduced mineral fertilizer based on the 2-year field experiment in a paddy field in the south of China. The experiment was randomized complete block design including four treatments with triplicates: control CK (winter follow, 120 kg ha−1 N fertilizer for each rice season) and three treatments with Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention named RA, RB, and RC (reduced N fertilizer by 15%, 27.5%, and 40% in each rice season). Results Treatments RA, RB, and RC increased greenhouse gas emissions by 9.30–101.25%, among which CH4 accounted for more than 60%; Carbon input of crops from treatments RA, RB, and RC increased by 2.25–12.10% compared with control CK over the 2 years. Though treatments RA, RB, and RC enhanced CO2 emissions, treatment RB decreased carbon footprint and became carbon sink. Conclusions The results of this study reveal that treatment RB (Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention with reduced N fertilizer by 27.5%) is better in reducing chemical fertilizer amount, increasing crop yield and carbon input, which is more conductive to sustainable development of agriculture.

The use of green manure plants for soil restoration is a viable agricultural practice that can mitigate soil degradation and biodiversity loss caused by the long-term application of inorganic fertilizers. However, the effects of green manure on soil microbial communities, rice yield, and quality in the karst mountains are largely unknown. The effects of no chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer + different Astragalus sinicus L. (Chinese milk vetch, CMV) treatments on the microbial community, soil enzyme activities, soil nutrient content, and crop yield were investigated through field experiments. A moderate application of chemical fertilizer with green manure can increase chlorophyll content, increase effective rice spikes, positive impact on rice yield, and increase crude protein, etc. Additional application of the moderate amount of CMV can increase alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen and available phosphorus (a significant increase of 54.87–72.65%), improve microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) (CFMV2 significantly increased by 22.16%), improve soil urease and phosphatase activities, and the urease activity increased by 43.43–69.24% with CMV application compared to CK. Moreover, all bacterial communities were dominated by three major phyla (Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Acidobacteria), where the application of chemical fertilizer with CMV increased the ratio of abundance of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria in rice soils, and the effect of chemical fertilizer application on the dominant bacteria was regulated to some extent by additional green manure application, which may have a beneficial effect on rice yield. Therefore, we conclude that the rational use of chemical fertilizers with CMV (22,500 kg ha−1) in karst landscapes is one of the effective measures to achieve efficient and sustainable use of rice fields.

Background: Excessive application of chemical fertilizer has resulted in lower nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency of crops, decreasing soil fertility, increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and worse environmental pollution. Organic material retention is regard as the key to solve these problems. The objective of this study is to conduct an assessment of carbon budget under Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention combined with reduced mineral fertilizer based on the 2-year field experiment in a paddy field in the south of China. The experiment was randomized complete block design including four treatments with triplicates: control CK (winter follow, 120 kg ha−1 N fertilizer for each rice season) and three treatments with Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention named RA, RB, and RC (reduced N fertilizer by 15%, 27.5%, and 40% in each rice season). Results: Treatments RA, RB, and RC increased greenhouse gas emissions by 9.30–101.25%, among which CH4 accounted for more than 60%; Carbon input of crops from treatments RA, RB, and RC increased by 2.25–12.10% compared with control CK over the 2 years. Though treatments RA, RB, and RC enhanced CO2 emissions, treatment RB decreased carbon footprint and became carbon sink. Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that treatment RB (Astragalus sinicus L. and rice straw retention with reduced N fertilizer by 27.5%) is better in reducing chemical fertilizer amount, increasing crop yield and carbon input, which is more conductive to sustainable development of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bacterial strain ZY1 capable of utilizing PCBs as its carbon source was isolated from the root nodules of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicusL.). The strain was identified asMesorhizobiumsp. according to its physiological-biochemical properties and the analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequence. When the initial OD600 was 0.15, 62.7% of 15 mg L−13,3′,4,4′-TCB in a liquid culture was degraded byMesorhizobiumsp. ZY1 within 10 days.Mesorhizobiumsp. ZY1 also greatly increased the biotransformation of soil PCBs. Pot experiments indicated that the soil PCB concentrations of a single incubation of strain ZY1 (R) and a single planting ofA. sinicus(P) decreased by 20.5% and 23.0%, respectively, and the concentration of PCBs in soil treated withA. sinicusand strain ZY1 decreased by 53.1%. We also observed thatA. sinicus-Mesorhizobiumsp. ZY1 treatment (PR) improved plant biomass and the concentration of PCBs in plants compared with a singleA. sinicusplanting treatment (P). The results suggest that the synergistic association betweenA. sinicusand PCBs-degradingMesorhizobiumsp. ZY1 can stimulate the phytoextraction of PCBs and the rhizosphere microflora to degrade PCBs, and might be a promising bioremediation strategy for PCB-contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic relationships among 22 accessions of Astragalus sinicus L. collected from different provinces of China were analyzed by inter-simple sequence repeat(ISSR) markers. The results showed that 10 highly reproducible ISSR fragments among 40 primers were screened. Using these primers, a total of 684 ISSR fragments from 500 to 3 000 bp were amplified, and 59.2% of them showed polymorphic by unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic(UPGMA) analysis. It revealed that the 22 accessions had a similarity range from 0.63 to 0.95, and existed biological diversities. Based on cluster and principal coordinate analyses, all accessions could be divided into four distinct groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify the genes involved in nodule formation and to increase usable molecular probes, a cDNA library of Astragalus sjnicus genes specifically expressed in infected roots by Mesorhizobium huakuii 7653R is generated using a PCR-based suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) technique with two mRNA populations of infected and uninfected control roots. Two nodule-specific genes, AsllC259 and AsG2511, are identified from infected roots of A. sinicus. The amino acid sequences deduced from the open reading frames (ORFs) reveal that AsllC259 and AsG2511 encodes a polypeptide with 134 and 58 amino acids, respectively. A signal peptide sequence is predicted with high probability at the N-termini of the AsllC259 and AsG2511. The motif searches show that the deduced polypeptide of AsllC259 contains two N-glycosylation sites, a cAMP- and cGMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylation site and a casein kinase II phosphorylation site. BLASTP searches reveal that AsllC259 putative protein displays a low degree of similarity to a unique nodulin from Lupinus luteus nodules. No significant identity is displayed over the predicted polypeptides of AsG2511 with any published sequences. Virtual Northern blot and semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses indicate that the two genes are expressed exclusively in inoculated roots and that their expression is 2-4 d later than that of the leghaemoglobin (Lb) gene during nodule development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The most remarkable point was the identification of M. jarvisii as a widespread and predominant species of A. sinicus in southwest of China. • All representatives were assigned to the symbiovar astragali by sharing high nod C sequence similarities of more than 99%. • These results revealed a novel geographic pattern of rhizobia associated with A. sinicus in China. • The biogeography distribution of these rhizobial genotypes and species was mainly affected by contents of available phosphorus, available potassium, total salts and pH in soils. In order to identify rhizobia of Astragalus sinicus L. and estimate their geographic distribution in the Southwest China, native rhizobia nodulating A. sinicus were isolated and their genetic diversity were studied at 13 sites cultivated in four Chinese provinces. A total of 451 rhizobial isolates were trapped with A. sinicus plants from soils and classified into 8 different genotypes defined by PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of 16S–23S rRNA intergenic spacer (IGS). Twenty-one representative strains were further identified into three defined Mesorhizobium species by phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA genes and housekeeping genes (glnII and atpD). M. jarvisii was dominant accounting for 76.3% of the total isolates, 22.8% of the isolates were identified as M. huakuii and five strains belonged to M. qingshengii. All representatives were assigned to the symbiovar astragali by sharing high nod C sequence similarities of more than 99%. Furthermore, the biogeography distribution of these rhizobial genotypes and species was mainly affected by contents of available phosphorus, available potassium, total salts and pH in soils. The most remarkable point was the identification of M. jarvisii as a widespread and predominant species of A. sinicus in southwest of China. These results revealed a novel geographic pattern of rhizobia associated with A. sinicus in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]