Background: In-situ straw return is an effective agronomic practice for improving soil quality and increasing crop yields. However, in Northeast China, prolonged seasonal freezing lasting more than 6 months markedly restricts straw decomposition, thereby limiting the benefits of straw return in saline-alkali soils. To overcome this constraint, cold-tolerant bacterial agents were applied to promote the decomposition and in-situ return of rice straw under frozen and low-temperature conditions. Results: The results demonstrated that under freezing and low-temperature conditions, the application of the microbial agent (CF) increased the rice straw decomposition rate to 51.22%, which was significantly higher than that observed in the control treatment (34.64%). The germination index of seeds exposed to the decomposed straw reached 102.87%, indicating that the decomposition products met safety standards. CF treatment reduced rhizosphere soil pH and salinity, while significantly increasing the diversity and abundance of rhizosphere microorganisms. In particular, it promoted the enrichment of bacterial genera associated with nitrogen fixation and straw decomposition. At the same time, the CF application enhanced rhizosphere soil nutrient levels, which in turn significantly improved rice growth parameters,including tiller number, plant height, and dry weight. Consequently, rice yield increased by 5.84% com-pared with the control treatment. Conclusions: In summary, the application of cold-tolerant bacterial agents enables efficient in-situ decom-position and return of rice straw under freezing and low-temperature conditions. This approach effec-tively enhances rice productivity in saline-alkali farmland and provides a simple, practical, and scalable strategy for overcoming straw decomposition limitations in cold regions worldwide. How to cite: Yang B, Zong X, Lin L, et al. Study on the effect of catalytic rotting and returning of rice straw to the field on rhizosphere soil and rice yield. Electron J Biotechnol 2026;81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ejbt.2026.100711. (c) 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Pontificia Universidad Cat oe lica de Valpar-a & Uacute;so. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The inhibition of microbial activity under low temperature conditions poses a major challenge for composting start-up in cold regions. Field-scale rapid start-up technologies for low temperature composting remain limited. This study employed a combined strategy involving the reflux of 20 % thermophilic compost materials (>50 degrees C) and microbial inoculation. This method achieved multiple positive effects: (1) increased initial pile temperature by 10 degrees C, reducing the temperature limitations for microbial activity; (2) enhanced nutrient salt contents and humic precursor substances, with SO42- and PO43- levels increasing by 48.23-66.15 % and humus-like components rising by 25.23 %, providing both essential nutrients and humic precursors to create a dual favorable environment that promotes microbial growth and humification; (3) stimulated the proliferation of beneficial microorganisms, such as Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria, which are efficient organic matter degraders. As a result, the onset of the thermophilic period was advanced by 16 days, accelerating composting start-up and improving efficiency. Furthermore, this strategy reduced greenhouse gas emissions, with CH4 and N2O emissions decreasing by 32.54 % and 62.3 %, respectively. This study reveals the mechanisms of refluxing thermophilic compost materials through physical (heat transfer), chemical (nutrient enrichment), and biological (microbial community enhancement) dimensions. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for optimizing composting in low temperature conditions and offer a low-carbon pathway for agricultural waste treatment.

The Yellow River Delta (YRD) of China is one of the most active land-sea interaction deltas in the world. However, due to human activities and climate change, it has undergone significant changes, including the degradation of natural wetlands and saltwater intrusion. As an integral part of soil microorganisms, fungi play a crucial role in maintaining and stabilizing the function of wetland ecosystems. To better understand the composition and diversity changes of fungal communities along a salinity gradient in the YRD of China and their relationship with environmental factors, fungal diversity, abundance, and composition in the sediments of four typical vegetation communities spanning from the riverbank to the seaside were investigated. The results showed that the electrical conductivity (EC) increased significantly from the riverbank to the coastal area (P < 0.05), but the levels of total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), total sulfur (TS), available phosphorous (AP), and ammonium (NH4+-N) increased in Phragmites australis community and then experienced a significant decrease in Tamarix chinensis community and Suaeda salsa community (P < 0.05). The alpha diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices) of the soil fungal community exhibited a negative correlation with EC. There was a significant alteration in the structure of the fungal community, primarily influenced by EC and NO3–N. Ascomycota was found to be the most abundant phylum, and its relative abundance is positively correlated with pH and TS. The relative abundance of Sordariomycetes, the second-largest class of Ascomycota, reached 38.95

Inoculating different microbial agents results in varying levels of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) removal, and there remains potential to further enhance removal efficiency. Moreover, the mechanisms driving ARGs removal under different inoculation strategies remain unclear. To improve ARGs removal efficiency, different microbial agents (single Bacillus subtilis and compound microbial agents) and inoculation timings (initial and cooling periods) were investigated, based on the correlations between microbial communities and ARGs. Results indicated that inoculation during the cooling period increased the overall ARGs removal rate to 93.99 %-97.07 %, with Bacillus subtilis achieving the highest removal rate of 97.07 %, exceeding that of inoculation during the initial period (84.19 %-88.8 %). This enhanced removal efficiency was primarily attributed to increased microbial community diversity, the enrichment of certain carbon- and nitrogen-decomposing bacteria, and a more effective reduction in ARG-hosting bacteria, which collectively contributed to improved ARGs removal. This study elucidates the mechanisms by which microbial inoculation at different composting periods enhances ARGs removal, providing guidance for improving ARGs mitigation in compost production.

Composting is widely regarded as an effective method for reducing antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in livestock and poultry manure. However, the critical mechanisms of ARGs in different composting phase are still unclear. In this study, normal composting and two types of rapid composting (without mature phase) were used to analyze the removal of ARGs and the succession of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Compared to normal composting, rapid composting reactivated tetracyclines, sulfonamide, and quinolones resistance genes during the maturation phase and reduced the total ARGs removal rates by 45.58 %-57.87 %. Humus-like components could inhibit the proliferation of ARGs, and the enrichment of protein-like components increased abundances of Pusillimonas, Persicitalea, and Pseudomonas, indirectly reducing the removal. This study is the first to demonstrate the contribution of DOM and microbial community to ARGs removal, emphasizing the importance of the maturation phase for ARGs elimination. This research provides guidance for producing safe compost products.

Soil salinization is the main factor that threatens the growth and development of plants and limits the increase of yield. It is of great significance to study the key soil environmental factors affecting plant root traits to reveal the adaptation strategies of plants to saline-alkaline-stressed soil environments. In this study, the root biomass, root morphological parameters and root mineral nutrient content of two alfalfa cultivars with different sensitivities to alkaline stress were analyzed with black soil as the control group and the mixed saline-alkaline soil with a ratio of 7:3 between black soil and saline-alkaline soil as the saline-alkaline treatment group. At the same time, the correlation analysis of soil salinity indexes, soil nutrient indexes and the activities of key enzymes involved in soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles was carried out. The results showed that compared with the control group, the pH, EC, and urease (URE) of the soil surrounding the roots of two alfalfa cultivars were significantly increased, while soil total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic carbon (SOC), and alpha-glucosidase activity (AGC) were significantly decreased under saline-alkaline stress. There was no significant difference in root biomass and root morphological parameters of saline-alkaline tolerant cultivar GN under saline-alkaline stress. The number of root tips (RT), root surface area (RS) and root volume (RV) of AG were reduced by 61.16%, 44.54%, and 45.31%, respectively, compared with control group. The ratios of K+/Na+, Ca2+/Na+ and Mg2+/Na+ of GN were significantly higher than those of AG (p < 0.05). The root fresh weight (RFW) and dry weight (RDW), root length (RL), RV and RT of alfalfa were positively regulated by soil SOC and TN, but negatively regulated by soil pH, EC, and URE (p < 0.01). Root Ca2+/Na+ ratio was significantly positively correlated with soil TN, TP and SOC (p < 0.01). The absorption of Mg and Ca ions in roots is significantly negatively regulated by soil beta-glucosidase activity (BGC) and acid phosphatase activity (APC) (p < 0.05). This study improved knowledge of the relationship between root traits and soil environmental factors and offered a theoretical framework for elucidating how plant roots adapt to saline-alkaline stressed soil environments.

The improvement of saline-alkali land plays a key role in ensuring food security and promoting agricultural development. Saline soils modifies the response of the soil microbial community, but research is still limited. The effects of applying phosphogypsum with rice cultivation (PRC) on soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community in soda saline-alkali paddy fields in Songnen Plain, China were studied. The results showed that the PRC significantly improved the physicochemical properties of soil, significantly reduced the salinity, increased the utilization efficiency of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and significantly increased the activities of urease and phosphatase. The activities of urease and phosphatase were significantly correlated with the contents of total organic carbon and total carbon. A redundancy analysis showed that pH, AP, ESP, HCO3−, and Na+ were dominant factors in determining the bacterial community structure. The results showed that PRC could improve soil quality and enhance the ecosystem functionality of soda saline-alkali paddy fields by increasing nutrient content, stimulating soil enzyme activity, and regulating bacterial community improvement. After many years of PRC, the soda-alkali soil paddy field still develops continuously and healthily, which will provide a new idea for sustainable land use management and agricultural development.

Bioavailability assessment of heavy metals in compost products is crucial for evaluating associated environmental risks. However, existing experimental methods are time-consuming and inefficient. The machine learning (ML) method has demonstrated excellent performance in predicting heavy metal fractions. In this study, based on the conventional physicochemical properties of 260 compost samples, including compost time, temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, organic matter (OM), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen, and total heavy metal contents, back propagation neural network, gradient boosting regression, and random forest (RF) models were used to predict the dynamic changes in bioavailable fractions of Cu and Zn during composting. All three models could be used for effective prediction of the variation trend in bioavailable fractions of Cu and Zn; the RF model showed the best prediction performance, with the prediction level higher than that reported in related studies. Although the key factors affecting changes among fractions were different, OM, EC, and TP were important for the accurate prediction of bioavailable fractions of Cu and Zn. This study provides simple and efficient ML models for predicting bioavailable fractions of Cu and Zn during composting, and offers a rapid evaluation method for the safe application of compost products.

Soil salinization is considered a major global environmental problem due to its adverse effects on agricultural sustainability and production. Compost is an environmentally friendly and sustainable measure used for reclaiming saline–sodic soil. However, the responses of the physiological characteristics of alfalfa and the structure and function of rhizosphere fungal communities after compost application in saline–sodic soil remain elusive. Here, a pot experiment was conducted to explore the effect of different compost application rates on soil properties, plant physiological traits, and rhizosphere fungal community characteristics. The results showed that compost significantly increased soil nutrients and corresponding soil enzyme activities, enhanced leaf photosynthesis traits, and ion homeostasis compared with the control treatment. We further found that the rhizosphere fungal communities were dominated by Sodiomyces at the genus level, and the relative abundance of pathogenic fungi, such as Botryotrichum, Plectosphaerella, Pseudogymnoascus, and Fusarium, declined after compost application. Moreover, the α-diversity indexes of the fungal community under compost application rates of 15% and 25% significantly decreased in comparison to the control treatment. The soil SOC, pH, TP, and TN were the main environmental factors affecting fungal community composition. The leaf photosynthetic traits and metal ion contents showed significantly positive correlations with Sodiomyces and Aspergillus. The fungal trophic mode was dominated by Pathotroph–Saprotroph–Symbiotroph and Saprotroph. Overall, our findings provide an important basis for the future application of microbial-based strategies to improve plant tolerance to saline-alkali stress.

IntroductionComposting is one of the effective environmental protection and sustainable measures for improving soil quality and increasing crop yield. However, due to the special physical and chemical properties of saline-sodic soil and the complex rhizosphere microecological environment, the potential mechanism of regulating plant growth after applying compost in saline-sodic soil remains elusive.MethodsHere, we investigated the effects of different compost addition rates (0, 5, 15, 25%) on plant growth traits, soil chemical properties, and rhizosphere bacterial community structure.ResultsThe results showed that compost promoted the accumulation of plant biomass and root growth, increased soil nutrients, and enhanced the diversity and complexity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities. Moreover, the enriched core bacterial ASVs (Amplicon Sequence Variants) in compost treatment could be reshaped, mainly including dominant genera, such as Pseudomonas, Devosia, Novosphingobium, Flavobacterium, and Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Pararhizobium-Rhizobium. The functions of these ASVs were energy resources and nitrogen cycle functions, suggesting the roles of these ASVs in improving plant root nutrient resource acquisition for alfalfa growth. The contents of available potassium, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, and organic carbon of the soil surrounding the roots, the root length, root surface area, root volume, and root tips affected the abundance of the core bacterial ASVs, and the soil chemical properties contributed more to the effect of plant biomass.DiscussionOverall, our study strengthens the understanding of the potentially important taxa structure and function of plant rhizosphere bacteria communities, and provides an important reference for developing agricultural microbiome engineering techniques to improve root nutrient uptake and increase plant productivity in saline-sodic soils.

高寒地区冬季漫长,冰冻低温季节粪便与污水处理是现代畜牧业发展过程中亟待解决的现实难题.为此提出"冬储春用"粪污处理技术,并从发酵菌料配制、防渗与吸渗、耐低温发酵等方面进行总结,以期为高寒地区冰冻低温季节的粪污处理提供技术支撑.

To improve the use of straw resources, rice straw was returned directly to the field and a psychrophilic microbial consortium was applied to accelerate degradation of the returned straw. A straw returning experiment was conducted in Jilin Province, China, during winter. Three experimental treatments were applied. Rice straw returned by deep tillage (SM); rice straw returned by deep tillage accompanied by a psychrophilic microbial consortium; and rice straw directly sprinkled in the field (control, CK). The timing and field management of the three treatments were the same. Soil characteristics and rice growth in all treatments were studied at the following tillering stage of rice. The SMJ treatment increased soil nutrients. Compared with CK, the SM and SMJ treatments significantly increased soil organic matter (SOM, 8.57% and 38.93%), total nitrogen (TN, 11.64% and 24.66%), alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen (AN, 8.49% and 33.81%), available potassium (AK, 14.71% and 86.47%), and available phosphorus (AP, 10.92% and 18.16%), respectively. In particular, addition of the psychrophilic microbial consortium in SMJ treatment significantly increased the SOM content compared to SM (by 38.9%) and CK (by 27.97%). Furthermore, urease activity in the SMJ treatment was two and three times that of the SM and CK treatments, respectively. Specifically, the number of effective tillers in SMJ treatment was twice that for the CK treatment at tillering stage. The combination of the psychrophilic microbial consortium with deep tillage effectively degraded rice straw and increased soil fertility and tillering. The addition of the psychrophilic microbial consortium increased the primary nutrients, intermediate nutrients, soil enzyme activities, and Nitrospirota richness. These results suggest that applying rice straw deep tillage with a psychrophilic microbial consortium is an efficient and inexpensive approach to improve soil fertility and crop productivity.

Efficient microalgae harvesting is a great challenge hindering diverse industrial applications of microalgae. Flocculation is regarded as an effective and promising technology for microalgae harvesting. In this study, sulfate (Al2(SO4)3 and Fe2(SO4)3) and chloride flocculants (AlCl3 and FeCl3) were used to harvest Chlorella vulgaris. Flocculation conditions, including flocculant dose, flocculation time, stirring speed, stirring time, and flocculation pH, were optimized, and flocculant effects on microalgal cell status, floc characteristics, biomass composition, algal cell re-culture, and media recycling were investigated. All flocculants exhibited efficient flocculation efficiency (93.5–98.8%) with lower doses of sulfate salts (60 mg/L algal culture) and higher doses of chloride salts (100 mg/L algal culture). The tested flocculants had no obvious influence on biomass composition (including lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and carotenoids), and microalgal cells in flocs could efficiently regrow. The spent medium of all treatments was successfully recycled for subsequent cell growth, thus reducing dependency on fresh medium.

There is limited information on the phosphorus availability under copper and tetracycline-amended composting: Insights into microbial communities and genes. Thus, this work investigated the phosphorus redistribution and transformation, illustrated the variation in microbial communities and genes, and ascertained the multiple action-patterns among which within copper and tetracycline-amended composting. Phosphorus bioavailability reduced by 8.96 % similar to 13.10 % due to the conservation of Ex-P to Ca-P. Copper and tetracycline showed a significant effect on fungal succession, but not to bacteria, as well as inhibited the phosphorus functional genes in fungal communities, while accelerated it in bacterial communities. Under the copper/tetracycline-stressed conditions, bacterial Firmicutes could promote the mineralization of organic phosphorus, and bacterial Proteobacteria might facilitate the dissolution of inorganic phosphorus. These findings could provide theoretical guidance for the further research on phosphorus bioavailability ascribed to microbial communities and genes.

The investigation of interaction mechanism of U(VI) selective removal on amidoxime-functionalized metal organic framework (i.e., UiO-66(Zr)-AO) derived from macromolecular carbohydrate is conducive to apply metal organic frameworks in actual environmental remediation. The batch experiments showed that UiO-66(Zr)-AO displayed the fast removal rate (equilibrium time of 0.5 h), high adsorption capacity (384.6 mg/g), excellent regeneration performance (<10 % decrease after three cycles) towards U(VI) removal due to the unprecedented chemical stability, large surface area and simple fabrication. U(VI) removal at different pH can be satisfactorily fitted by diffuse layer modeling with cation exchange at low pH and an inner-sphere surface complexation at high pH. The inner-sphere surface complexation was further demonstrated by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. These findings revealed that UiO-66(Zr)-AO can be an effective adsorbent to remove the radionuclides from aqueous solution, which is crucial for recycling of uranium resource and decreasing the uranium harm to the environment.

本文采用IPCC《指南》提供的公式及方法核算了 2011-2020 年吉林省农业氧化亚氮排放总量,并对农业氧化亚氮排放现状及时空规律进行了全面分析,为吉林省有针对性实施农业氧化亚氮减排技术措施及对策提供数据依据.结果表明:2011-2020 年吉林省农业氧化亚氮排放总量由 44684t减少到 42747t,下降 4.53%.从排放源结构上看,农用地排放年均占比为83.28%,粪便管理排放年均占比为16.72%.氧化亚氮排放空间分布特征以中部高、东西低为主空间分布.吉林省中部地区是未来降低农业氧化亚氮排放的重点区域.

赤芍具有较高的药用价值和经济效益.随着市场对赤芍需求量的增加,亟需扩大赤芍种植范围和人工栽培技术.在人工种植过程中常暴发根腐病害,导致赤芍大面积绝产,严重影响了赤芍的品质和产量.为此,本文综合阐述了赤芍的药用价值和病害发生现状,进一步总结了根腐病的病原菌、发病原因、防治方法的研究.在此背景下对赤芍根腐病的防治措施进行综述,并提出目前存在的问题和建议,对未来中药材产业发展进行了展望.以期为实际赤芍种植生产中提供一定的理论参考.

本文作者通过文献查阅、成果归纳、实地调研,从农田氧化亚氮排放影响因素入手,结合东北粮食产区气候、种植特点,归纳总结农田氧化亚氮减排技术,分析不同减排技术的适应性,提出减少农田氧化亚氮的排放措施,为本地区农田减少氧化亚氮排放提供技术参考.通过该技术的应用可以达到减少或控制农田氧化亚氮排放的目的.