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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Nutrition

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1647453

This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing Plant–Microbe Interactions to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Plant-Soil Health for Sustainable AgricultureView all 16 articles

Combined Biochar and DMPP Reduce N2O Emissions in Wheat Crops via Microbial Community Modulation

Provisionally accepted
Haizhong  WuHaizhong Wu*Dengxiao  ZhangDengxiao ZhangXiaobo  ShenXiaobo ShenGuozhen  MaGuozhen MaQingsong  YuanQingsong YuanHongjing  ZhaoHongjing ZhaoShiliang  LiuShiliang LiuXiaolei  JieXiaolei JieDaichang  WangDaichang Wang*
  • Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Delayed nitrogen (N) application increases N use efficiency in a broadacre cropping system. However, its effect on N2O emissions and the underlying microbial mechanisms remains poorly understood. A field-plot experiment was carried out to examine the effects of biochar and a nitrification inhibitor (DMPP) on soil N2O emissions with six treatments: without N application (control), optimal N application (ON), farmer conventional N application (FN), biochar + ON (ONB), DMPP + ON (OND), and biochar + OND (ONDB). In comparison to the ON treatments, cumulative N2O emissions from the OND and ONDB treatments were significantly reduced by 32% and 38%, respectively, whereas emissions from the FN and ONB treatments exhibited increases of 38% and 4%, respectively. N application or biochar amendment increased the abundance of AOA and AOB, whereas DMPP amendment led to a reduction in AOB abundance. The OND and ONDB treatments enhanced the relative proportion of Nitrospira in the AOB community. The ONB treatment altered the most dominant genus of nirS and nosZ communities. Correlation analysis revealed that AOB, nirK, and nirK/nosZ were the predominant microorganism communities influencing soil N2O emissions. Random forest analysis identified Nitrospira in AOB communities, Cronobacter in nirK-containing communities, and Ramlibacter and Methylobacillus in the nosZ-containing community as key microbial taxa contributing to N2O emissions. We propose that the ONBD treatment provides dual advantages by reducing N2O emissions and enhancing N use efficiency under the delayed N application regime.

Keywords: N2O, biochar, DMPP, AOB, nirK, nosZ

Received: 15 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Zhang, Shen, Ma, Yuan, Zhao, Liu, Jie and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Haizhong Wu, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
Daichang Wang, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China

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