TY - JOUR
T1 - Biochar-based fertilizer
T2 - Supercharging root membrane potential and biomass yield of rice
AU - Chew, Jinkiat
AU - Zhu, Longlong
AU - Nielsen, Shaun
AU - Graber, Ellen
AU - Mitchell, David R.G.
AU - Horvat, Joseph
AU - Mohammed, Mohanad
AU - Liu, Minglong
AU - van Zwieten, Lukas
AU - Donne, Scott
AU - Munroe, Paul
AU - Taherymoosavi, Sarasadat
AU - Pace, Ben
AU - Rawal, Aditya
AU - Hook, James
AU - Marjo, Chris
AU - Thomas, Donald S.
AU - Pan, Genxing
AU - Li, Lianqing
AU - Bian, Rongjun
AU - McBeath, Anna
AU - Bird, Michael
AU - Thomas, Torsten
AU - Husson, Olivier
AU - Solaiman, Zakaria
AU - Joseph, Stephen
AU - Fan, Xiaorong
PY - 2020/4/15
Y1 - 2020/4/15
N2 - Biochar-based compound fertilizers (BCF) and amendments have proven to enhance crop yields and modify soil properties (pH, nutrients, organic matter, structure etc.) and are now in commercial production in China. While there is a good understanding of the changes in soil properties following biochar addition, the interactions within the rhizosphere remain largely unstudied, with benefits to yield observed beyond the changes in soil properties alone. We investigated the rhizosphere interactions following the addition of an activated wheat straw BCF at an application rates of 0.25% (g·g− 1 soil), which could potentially explain the increase of plant biomass (by 67%), herbage N (by 40%) and P (by 46%) uptake in the rice plants grown in the BCF-treated soil, compared to the rice plants grown in the soil with conventional fertilizer alone. Examination of the roots revealed that micron and submicron-sized biochar were embedded in the plaque layer. BCF increased soil Eh by 85 mV and increased the potential difference between the rhizosphere soil and the root membrane by 65 mV. This increased potential difference lowered the free energy required for root nutrient accumulation, potentially explaining greater plant nutrient content and biomass. We also demonstrate an increased abundance of plant-growth promoting bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. We suggest that the redox properties of the biochar cause major changes in electron status of rhizosphere soils that drive the observed agronomic benefits.
AB - Biochar-based compound fertilizers (BCF) and amendments have proven to enhance crop yields and modify soil properties (pH, nutrients, organic matter, structure etc.) and are now in commercial production in China. While there is a good understanding of the changes in soil properties following biochar addition, the interactions within the rhizosphere remain largely unstudied, with benefits to yield observed beyond the changes in soil properties alone. We investigated the rhizosphere interactions following the addition of an activated wheat straw BCF at an application rates of 0.25% (g·g− 1 soil), which could potentially explain the increase of plant biomass (by 67%), herbage N (by 40%) and P (by 46%) uptake in the rice plants grown in the BCF-treated soil, compared to the rice plants grown in the soil with conventional fertilizer alone. Examination of the roots revealed that micron and submicron-sized biochar were embedded in the plaque layer. BCF increased soil Eh by 85 mV and increased the potential difference between the rhizosphere soil and the root membrane by 65 mV. This increased potential difference lowered the free energy required for root nutrient accumulation, potentially explaining greater plant nutrient content and biomass. We also demonstrate an increased abundance of plant-growth promoting bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. We suggest that the redox properties of the biochar cause major changes in electron status of rhizosphere soils that drive the observed agronomic benefits.
KW - Biochar compound fertilizers
KW - Plant nutrient uptake
KW - Rhizosphere microbial interactions
KW - Rice yield
KW - Root membrane potential
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077949772&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136431
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136431
M3 - Article
C2 - 31958720
AN - SCOPUS:85077949772
VL - 713
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 136431
ER -