title: N(2)O emission from degraded soybean nodules depends on denitrification by Bradyrhizobium japonicum and other microbes in the rhizosphere.
abstract: A model system developed to produce N(2)O emissions from degrading soybean nodules in the laboratory was used to clarify the mechanism of N(2)O emission from soybean fields. Soybean plants inoculated with nosZ-defective strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110 (ΔnosZ, lacking N(2)O reductase) were grown in aseptic jars. After 30 days, shoot decapitation (D, to promote nodule degradation), soil addition (S, to supply soil microbes), or both (DS) were applied. N(2)O was emitted only with DS treatment. Thus, both soil microbes and nodule degradation are required for the emission of N(2)O from the soybean rhizosphere. The N(2)O flux peaked 15 days after DS treatment. Nitrate addition markedly enhanced N(2)O emission. A (15)N tracer experiment indicated that N(2)O was derived from N fixed in the nodules. To evaluate the contribution of bradyrhizobia, N(2)O emission was compared between a nirK mutant (ΔnirKΔnosZ, lacking nitrite reductase) and ΔnosZ. The N(2)O flux from the ΔnirKΔnosZ rhizosphere was significantly lower than that from ΔnosZ, but was still 40% to 60% of that of ΔnosZ, suggesting that N(2)O emission is due to both B. japonicum and other soil microorganisms. Only nosZ-competent B. japonicum (nosZ+ strain) could take up N(2)O. Therefore, during nodule degradation, both B. japonicum and other soil microorganisms release N(2)O from nodule N via their denitrification processes (N(2)O source), whereas nosZ-competent B. japonicum exclusively takes up N(2)O (N(2)O sink). Net N(2)O flux from soybean rhizosphere is likely determined by the balance of N(2)O source and sink.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2–1–1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980–8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ikenishi
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itakura
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Shima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eda
authors.forename: Naohiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Katsuyama
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suwa
authors.forename: Hisayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: Kiwamu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minamisawa
mesh_terms: D020369:Bradyrhizobium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D058440:Denitrification; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000378:metabolism; D058441:Rhizosphere; D053204:Root Nodules, Plant / Q000382:microbiology*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013025:Glycine max / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D009609:Nitrous Oxide