Plant Soil Environ., 2012, 58(6):249-255 | DOI: 10.17221/532/2011-PSE

Distribution of recently fixed photosynthate in a switchgrass plant-soil system

D.R. Chaudhary1,2, J. Saxena1, N. Lorenz1, R.P. Dick1
1 School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
2 Discipline of Wasteland Research, Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Gujarat, India

The use of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) as an energy crop has gained great importance in past two decades due to its high biomass yields on marginal lands with low agricultural inputs and low maintenance requirements. Information on the allocation of photosynthetically fixed C in the switchgrass-soil system is important to understand the C flow and to quantify the sequestration of C in soils. The allocation of 13C labeled photosynthates in shoot, root, soil, and in microbial biomass carbon (MBC) of rhizosphere and bulk soil of 45 days old, greenhouse grown-switchgrass was examined during 20 days 13C-CO2 pulse labeling period. The total 13C recovered in the plant-soil system varied from 79% after 1 day to 42% after 20 days of labeling. After labeling, 54%, 40%, and 6% excess 13C resided in shoot, root and soil, respectively on day 1; 27%, 61% and 11%, respectively on day 5 and 20%, 63% and 17%, respectively day 20 after labeling. The maximum incorporation of 13C from roots into the MB of rhizosphere soil occurred within the first 24 h of labeling. The excess 13C values of rhizosphere soil and rhizosphere MBC were significantly higher than excess 13C values of bulk soil and the bulk soil MBC, respectively. The proportion of excess 13C in soil as MBC declined from 92 to 15% in rhizosphere soil and from 79 to 18% in bulk soil, for 1 day and 20 days after labeling, respectively. The present study showed the effectiveness of 13C labeling to examine the fate of recently photosynthesized C in soil-plant (switchgrass) system and dynamics of MBC.

Keywords: Panicum virgatum L.; 13C pulse labeling; microbial biomass; rhizodeposition; carbon allocation; C sequestration

Published: June 30, 2012  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Chaudhary DR, Saxena J, Lorenz N, Dick RP. Distribution of recently fixed photosynthate in a switchgrass plant-soil system. Plant Soil Environ. 2012;58(6):249-255. doi: 10.17221/532/2011-PSE.
Download citation

References

  1. Boutton T.W. (1999): Stable carbon isotope ratio of natural materials: I. Sample preparation and mass spectrometric analysis. In: Coleman D.C., Fry D. (eds): Carbon Isotope Techniques. Academic Press, San Diego, 155-171. Go to original source...
  2. Bruulsema T.W., Duxbury J.M. (1996): Simultaneous measurement of soil microbial nitrogen, carbon, and carbon isotopic ratio. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 60: 1787-1791. Go to original source...
  3. Butler J.L., Bottomley P.J., Griffith S.M., Myrold D.D. (2004): Distribution and turnover of recently fixed photosynthate in ryegrass rhizospheres. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 36: 371-382. Go to original source...
  4. Cheng W. (1999): Rhizosphere feedbacks in elevated CO 2. Tree Physiology, 19: 313-320. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  5. Cheng W., Coleman D.C., Carrol C.R., Hoffman C.A. (1993): In situ measurement of root respiration and soluble C concentrations in rhizosphere. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 25: 1189-1196. Go to original source...
  6. Frank A.B., Berdahl J.D., Hanson J.D., Liebig M.A., Johnson H.A. (2004): Biomass and carbon partitioning in switchgrass. Crop Science, 44: 1391-1396. Go to original source...
  7. Gregory P.J., Atwell B.J. (1991): The fate of carbon in pulse labeled crops of barley and wheat. Plant and Soil, 136: 205-213. Go to original source...
  8. Keith H., Oades J.M., Martin J.K. (1986): Input of carbon to soil from wheat plants. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 18: 445-449. Go to original source...
  9. Keshwani D.R., Cheng J.J. (2009): Switchgrass for bioethanol and other value-added applications: A review. Bioresource Technology, 100: 1515-1523. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  10. Kuzyakov Y., Domanski G. (2000): Carbon input by plants into soil. Review. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 163: 421-431. Go to original source...
  11. Kuzyakov Y., Ehrensberger H., Stahr K. (2001): Carbon partitioning and below-ground translocation by Lolium perenne. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 33: 61-74. Go to original source...
  12. Kuzyakov Y., Domanski G. (2002): Model for rhizodeposition and CO 2 efflux from planted soil and its validation by 14 C pulse labeling of ryegrass. Plant and Soil, 239: 87-102. Go to original source...
  13. Leake J.R., Ostle N.J., Rangel-Castro J.I., Johnson D. (2006): Carbon fluxes from plants through soil organisms determined by field 13 CO pulse-labeling in an upland grassland. Applied 2 Soil Ecology, 33: 152-175. Go to original source...
  14. Liljeroth E., Veen J.A. van, Miller H.J. (1990): Assimilate translocation to the rhizosphere of two wheat lines and subsequent utilization by rhizosphere microorganisms at two soil nitrogen concentration. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 22: 1015-1021. Go to original source...
  15. Lu Y., Watanabe A., Kimura M. (2002): Contribution of plantderived carbon to soil microbial biomass dynamics in a paddy rice microcosm. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 36: 136-142. Go to original source...
  16. Ma Z., Wood C.W., Bransby D.I. (2001): Impact of row spacing, nitrogen rate, and time of carbon partitioning of switchgrass. Biomass and Bioenergy, 20: 413-419. Go to original source...
  17. Marschner H. (1995): Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants. Academic Press, London.
  18. Martin J., Merckx R. (1992): The partitioning of photosynthetically fixed carbon within the rhizosphere of mature wheat. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 24: 1147-1156. Go to original source...
  19. McLaughlin S.B., Walsh M.E. (1998): Evaluating environmental consequences of producing herbaceous crops for bioenergy. Biomass and Bioenergy, 14: 317-324. Go to original source...
  20. Merckx R., den Hartog A., van Veen J.A. (1985): Turnover of rootderived material and related microbial biomass formation in soils of different texture. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 17: 565-569. Go to original source...
  21. Norton J.M., Smith J.L., Firestone M.K. (1990): Carbon flow in the rhizosphere ponderosa pine seedlings. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 22: 449-455. Go to original source...
  22. Ostle N., Ineson P., Benham D., Sleep D. (2000): Carbon assimilation and turnover in grassland vegetation using an in-situ 13 CO pulse labeling system. Rapid Communications in Mass 2 Spectrometry, 14: 1345-1350. Go to original source...
  23. Palta J.A., Gregory P.J. (1997): Drought affects the fluxes of carbon to roots and soil in 13C pulse-labelled plants of wheat. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 29: 1395-1403. Go to original source...
  24. Phillips R.P., Fahey T.J. (2005): Pattern of rhizosphere carbon flux in sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and yellow birch (Betulla allegheniensis) saplings. Global Change Biology, 11: 983-995. Go to original source...
  25. Plain C., Gerant D., Maillard P., Dannoura M., Dong Y., Zeller B., Priault P., Parent F., Epron D. (2009): Tracing of recently assimilated carbon in respiration at high temporal resolution in the field with a tuneable diode laser absorption spectrometer after in situ 13 CO pulse labelling of 20-year-old beech trees. 2 Tree Physiology, 29: 1433-1445. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  26. Rattray E.A.S., Paterson E., Killham K. (1995): Characterization of the dynamics of C-partitioning within Lolium prenne and to the rhizosphere microbial biomass using 14 C pulse chase. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 19: 280-286. Go to original source...
  27. Šantrůčková H., Šantrůček J., Květoň J., Šimková M., Elhottová D., Roháček K. (1999): Carbon balance of a winter wheat-root microbiota system under elevated CO 2. Photosynthetica, 36: 341-354. Go to original source...
  28. Svejcar T.J., Boutton T.W., Trent J.D. (1990): Assessment of carbon allocation with stable carbon isotope labeling. Agronomy Journal, 82: 18-21. Go to original source...
  29. Van Ginkel J.H., Corrisen A., Polci D. (2000): Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration: effects of increased carbon input in a Lolium perenne soil on microorganisms and decomposition. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32: 449-456. Go to original source...
  30. Vance E.D., Brooks P.C., Jenkinson D.S. (1987): An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 19: 703-707. Go to original source...
  31. Walker T.S., Bais H.P., Grotewold E., Vivanco J.M. (2003): Root exudation and rhizosphere biology. Plant Physiology, 132: 44-51. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  32. Whipps J.M. (1984): Environmental factors affecting the loss of carbon from the roots of wheat and barley seedlings. Journal of Experimental Botany, 35: 767-773. Go to original source...
  33. Yevdokimov I., Ruser R., Buegger F., Marx M., Munch J.C. (2006): Microbial immobilisation of 13C rhizodeposits in rhizosphere and root-free soil under continuous 13 C labelling of oats. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38: 1201-1211. Go to original source...

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.