Has agricultural intensification impacted maize root traits and rhizosphere interactions related to organic N acquisition?

ABSTRACT: Plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere influence rates of organic matter mineralization and nutrient cycling that are critical to sustainable agricultural productivity. Agricultural intensification, particularly the introduction of synthetic fertilizer in the USA, altered the abundance and dominant forms of nitrogen (N), a critical plant nutrient, potentially imposing selection pressure on plant traits and plant-microbe interactions regulating N cycling and acquisition. We hypothesized that maize adaptation to synthetic N fertilization altered root functional traits and rhizosphere microbial nutrient cycling, reducing maize ability to acquire N from organic sources. Six maize genotypes released pre-fertilizer (1936, 1939, 1942) or post-fertilizer (1984, 1994, 2015) were grown in rhi

SUBMITTER: Schmidt JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7333546 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature