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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.01.15.907543

The distribution of functional N-cycle related genes and nitrogen in soil profiles fertilized with mineral and organic N fertilizer

Zilio, M.·Motta, S.·Tambone, F.·Scaglia, B.·Boccasile, G.·Squartini, A.·Adani, f.
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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) fertilizers applied to agricultural soils result in the release of nitrogen, mainly nitrate (NO3-) in addition to nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3), into the environment. Nitrogen transformation in soil is a complex process and the soil microbial population can regulate the potential for N mineralization, nitrification and denitrification. Here we show that agricultural soils under standard agricultural N-management are consistently characterized by a high presence of gene copies for some of the key biological activities related to the N-cycle. This led to a strong NO3- reduction (75%) passing from the soil surface (15.38 {+/-} 11.36 g N-NO3 kg-1 on average) to 1 m deep layer (3.92 {+/-} 4.42 g N-NO3 kg-1 on average), and ensured low nitrate presence in the deepest layer. Under these circumstances the other soil properties play a minor role in reducing soil nitrate presence in soil. However, with excessive N fertilization, the abundance of bacterial gene copies is not sufficient to explain N leaching in soil and other factors, i.e. soil texture and rainfall, become more important in controlling these aspects.

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Zilio, M., Motta, S., Tambone, F., Scaglia, B., Boccasile, G., Squartini, A., Adani, f.. 2020-01-15. The distribution of functional N-cycle related genes and nitrogen in soil profiles fertilized with mineral and organic N fertilizer. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.15.907543

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