Co-application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer promotes rice performance, decreases cadmium availability, and shapes rhizosphere bacterial community in paddy soil

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in soil has posed a great threat to crop safety and yield as well as soil quality. Biochar blended with nitrogen fertilizer have been reported to be effective in remediating Cd-contaminated soil. However, the influence of co-application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer on the Cd bioavailability, rice yield and soil microbiome remains unclear. In this study, eight different treatments including control (CK), 5% biochar (B), 2.6, 3.5, 4.4 g/pot nitrogen fertilizers (N1, N2 and N3), and co-application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizers (BN1, BN2, BN3) were performed in a pot experiment with paddy soil for observations in an entire rice cycle growth period. Results showed single N increased soil available Cd content and Cd uptake in edible part of rice, while the soil available Cd content significantly decreased by 14.8% and 7.4%-11.1% under the B, BN treatments, and the Cd content in edible part of rice was significantly reduced by 35.1% and 18.5%-26.5%, respectively. Besides, B, N and BN treatments significantly increased the yield of rice by 14.3%-86.6% compared with CK, and the highest yield was gained under BN3 treatment. Soil bacterial diversity indices (Shannon, Chaol, observed species and PD whole tree index) under N2, N3 were generally improved. Cluster analysis indicated that bacterial community structures under BN treatments differed from those of CK and single N treatments. BN treatments enhanced the abundances of key bacterial phylum such as Acidobacteria, positively associated with yield, and increased the abundance of Spirochaetes, negatively correlated to soil available Cd and Cd uptake of rice. Furthermore, the regression path analysis (RPA) revealed that pH, organic matter (OM), alkaline hydrolysis of nitrogen (AHN) and available Cd were the major properties influencing Cd content in edible part of rice. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that pH and available Cd played key role in shaping soil bacterial community. Thus, BN is a feasible practice for the improvements of rice growth and remediation of Cd-polluted soil.

Automated summary

The co-application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer can effectively reduce the bioavailability of cadmium in contaminated soil, decrease cadmium uptake in rice, and improve rice yield. Additionally, it can enhance soil bacterial diversity and increase the abundance of bacteria associated with higher yield while reducing the abundance of bacteria correlated with soil available cadmium and cadmium uptake in rice.