Metal oxide nanoparticles inhibit nitrogen fixation and rhizosphere colonization by inducing ROS in associative nitrogen-fixing bacteria Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501.

The potential effects of engineered metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) on bacterial nitrogen fixation are of great concern. Herein, the impact and mechanism of the increasing-used MONPs, including TiO2, Al2O3, and ZnO nanoparticles (TiO2NP, Al2O3NP, and ZnONP, respectively), on nitrogenase activity was studied at the concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 mg L-1 using associative rhizosphere nitrogen-fixing bacteria Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501. Nitrogen fixation capacity was inhibited by MONPs in an increasing degree of TiO2NP < Al2O3NP < ZnONP. Realtime qPCR analysis showed that the expressions of nitrogenase synthesis-related genes, including nifA and nifH, were inhibited significantly when MONPs were added. MONPs could cause the explosion of intracellular ROS, and ROS not only changed the permeability of the membrane but also inhibited the expression of nifA and biofilm formation on the root surface. The repressed nifA gene could inhibit transcriptional activation of nif-specific genes, and ROS reduced the biofilm formation on the root surface which had a negative effect on resisting environmental stress. This study demonstrated that MONPs, including TiO2NP, Al2O3NP, and ZnONP, inhibited bacterial biofilm formation and nitrogen fixation in the rice rhizosphere, which might have a negative effect on the nitrogen cycle in bacteria-rice system.

Matured compost amendment improves compost nutrient content by changing the bacterial community during the composting of Chinese herb residues.

Composting is a sustainable strategy to deal with organic waste. Our research aimed to study the influence of an amendment of 10% matured compost (MC) during Chinese herb residue (CHR) compost. Here, a 60-day CHR compost was performed, and MC application was able to reduce the nitrogen loss and enhance the humic acid accumulation during the composting as compared with the non-inoculated control (NC), by 25 and 19%, respectively. Furthermore, the matured compost amendment improved the diversity of the bacterial community, increased the complexity of the co-occurrence network, and changed the keystone and module hub bacteria during composting. The increased abundance levels of Thermopolyspora, Thermobispora, and Thermosporomyces, which were significantly higher in MC than in NC, may contribute to the degradation of cellulose and the formation of humic acid. Overall, this study extends our understanding of the effects of matured compost reflux on compost quality and the bacterial community.

Decreased Methane Emissions Associated with Methanogenic and Methanotrophic Communities in a Pig Manure Windrow Composting System under Calcium Superphosphate Amendment.

With the rapid growth of livestock breeding, manure composting has evolved to be an important source of atmospheric methane (CH4) which accelerates global warming. Calcium superphosphate (CaSSP), as a commonly used fertilizer, was proposed to be effective in reducing CH4 emissions from manure composting, but the intrinsic biological mechanism remains unknown. Methanogens and methanotrophs both play a key role in mediating CH4 fluxes, therefore we hypothesized that the CaSSP-mediated reduction in CH4 emissions was attributed to the shift of methanogens and methanotrophs, which was regulated by physicochemical parameter changes. To test this hypothesis, a 60-day pig manure windrow composting experiment was conducted to investigate the response of CH4 emissions to CaSSP amendment, with a close linkage to methanogenic and methanotrophic communities. Results showed that CaSSP amendment significantly reduced CH4 emissions by 49.5% compared with the control over the whole composting period. The decreased mcrA gene (encodes the α-subunit of methyl-coenzyme M reductase) abundance in response to CaSSP amendment suggested that the CH4 emissions were reduced primarily due to the suppressed microbial CH4 production. Illumina MiSeq sequencing analysis showed that the overall distribution pattern of methanogenic and methanotrophic communities were significantly affected by CaSSP amendment. Particularly, the relative abundance of Methanosarcina that is known to be a dominant group for CH4 production, significantly decreased by up to 25.3% accompanied with CaSSP addition. Only Type I methanotrophs was detected in our study and Methylocaldum was the dominant methanotrophs in this composting system; in detail, CaSSP amendment increased the relative abundance of OTUs belong to Methylocaldum and Methylobacter. Moreover, the increased SO42- concentration and decreased pH acted as two key factors influencing the methanogenic and methanotrophic composition, with the former has a negative effect on methanogenesis growth and can later promote CH4 oxidation at a low level. This study deepens our understanding of the interaction between abiotic factors, function microbiota and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as provides implication for practically reducing composting GHG emissions.

The continuous application of biochar in field: effects on P fraction, P sorption and release.

It is unclear how biochar can affect P availability in soil, especially in field under continuous application. In this study, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of 2-years application of biochar on P availability, P fractionation, P sorption and release in a clay soil. The biochar in this study was produced from rice straw through pyrolysis at 700°C. As compared with no fertilizer treatment (CK) and chemical fertilizer treatment (CF), the biochar application with chemical fertilizer treatment (BCF) significantly increased total P and available P content in soil. And BCF treatment significantly increased resin P, NaHCO3-extracted P, Fe/Al-Po and HCl-extracted P but decreased Fe/Al-Pi and residual P as compared with CF treatment. Surprisingly, BCF treatment showed higher sorption capacity and release capacity of soil P than that of CF treatment. These results imply that continuous application of biochar for 2-years in field may adsorbed P through physical sorption rather than chemical reaction and then improve P availability in soil.

Calcium Superphosphate-Mediated Reshaping of Denitrifying Bacteria Community Contributed to N2O Mitigation in Pig Manure Windrow Composting.

Composting is recognized as an effective strategy for the sustainable use of organic wastes, but also as an important emission source of nitrous oxide (N2O) contributing to global warming. The effects of calcium superphosphate (CaSSP) on N2O production during composting are reported to be controversial, and the intrinsic microbial mechanism remains unclear. Here, a pig manure windrow composting experiment lasting for ~60 days was performed to evaluate the effects of CaSSP amendment (5%, w/w) on N2O fluxes in situ, and to determine the denitrifiers' response, and their driving factors. Results indicated that CaSSP amendment significantly reduced N2O emissions as compared to the control pile (maximum N2O emission rate reduced by 64.5% and total emission decreased by 49.8%). CaSSP amendment reduced the abundance of nirK gene encoding for nitrite reductase, while the abundance of nosZ gene (N2O reductase) was enriched. Finally, we built a schematic model and indicated that the abundance of nirK gene was likely to play a key role in mediating N2O production, which were correlated with NH4+-N and NO3--N changing responsive to CaSSP. Our finding implicates that CaSSP application could be a potential strategy for N2O mitigation in manure windrow composting, and the revealed microbial mechanism is helpful for deepening the understanding of the interaction among N-cycle functional genes, physicochemical factors, and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.

Heavy metal and nutrient changes during vermicomposting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues.

A pilot-scale trial of four months was conducted to investigate the responses of heavy metal and nutrient to composting animal manure spiked with mushroom residues with and without earthworms. Results showed that earthworm activities accelerated organic matter mineralization (e.g. reduction in C/N ratio, increase in total concentrations of N, P, K) and humification (e.g. increase in humic acid concentration, humification ratio and humification index). Despite composting increased total heavy metal (i.e. As, Pb, Cu, Zn) concentrations irrespective of earthworm, the availability of heavy metals extracted by DTPA significantly (P<0.05) decreased particularly in treatments with earthworms introduced. The shift from available to unavailable fractions of heavy metals was either due to earthworm bioaccumulation, as indicated by total heavy metal concentrations being higher in earthworm tissues, or due to the formation of stable metal-humus complexes as indicated by the promotion of humification. Our results suggest that vermicomposting process could magnify the nutrient quality but relieve the heavy metals risk of agricultural organic wastes.

[Effects of fluctuating thermal regime on cold tolerance of parasitoid wasp Aphidius gifuensis].

In order to understand the effects of fluctuating thermal regime (FTR) on the cold tolerance of female and male Aphidius gifuensis adults in the mummies of Schizaphis graminum and to explore the variation patterns of the biochemical substances in the adult body, this paper determined the supercooling point (SCP), freezing point (FP), and the water, fat, protein, and carbohydrate contents of the adults after FTR treatments. Compared with that at constant temperature (20 degrees C), the cold tolerance of the adults at 4 degrees C 22 h/20 degrees C 2 h and 4 degrees C 46 h/20 degrees C 2 h after 1 week enhanced significantly. The SCP and FP after FTR presented a downtrend, being the lowest (-26.38 degrees C and -25.51 degrees C, respectively) for the female adults after 1 week of 4 degrees C 22 h/20 degrees C and the lowest (-26.82 degrees C and -26.38 degrees C, respectively) for the male adults after 1 week of 4 degrees C 46 h/20 degrees C 2 h. After FTR, the carbohydrate and protein contents of the female and male adults increased while the fat and water contents were in adverse, with distinct changes after 1 week of 4 degrees C 22 h/20 degrees C 2 h and 4 degrees C 46 h/20 degrees C 2 h. The results indicated that FTR could enhance the cold tolerance of A. gifuensis adults, which was closely related to the variations of the biochemical substances in the adult body, and the treatments 4 degrees C 22 h/20 degrees C 2 h and 4 degrees C 46 h/20 degrees C 2 h for 1 week were most advantageous to the survival and practical application of A. gifuensis.