Nitrogen Status and Utilization in Rhizosphere of Rice

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted with hybrid rice(Oryza Sativa L.) in order to study N Status and utilization in the rhizosphere of rice,The experiment was composed of three treatments:without N,15NH4-N and 15NO3-N .Plant roots were separated from the soil by a nylon cloth,and 1 mm increments of soil,moving laterally away from the roots,were taken and analyzed for various N froms.The labelled N in the plants ranged from 67\51%to 69.24% of the total amount of N absorbed by the rice seedlings with the labelled fertilizer N treatments.This shows that the N in the Plants came mainly from the fertilizers.However,the N absorbed by the rice seedlings accounted for less than 35% of the total amount of the N depletion in the soil near the rice roots,indicating an important N loss in the rhizosphere of rice.The soil redox potential(all treatments)and the concentration of the labelled NO3-N(the labelled NH4-N treatment only) decreased as the distance from the rice roots increased in the rhizosphere of rice.In contrast,the concentration of the labelled NH4-N increased as the distance uincreased in the same soil zone.These results suggested that nifrification occurred in the soil around the rice roots.Therefore,the reason for the N loss in the rhizosphere of rice might be the NO3 movement into the reductive non-rhizosphere soil(submerged) where denitrification can take place.