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Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 2014, 4(1): 30-38
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Article

Examination of nitrification inhibition by sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in soil around its roots

Adel Ghoneim1,2, Abdulla Al-Modaihsh1, Saied Naeem2, Tamer Metwally2, Elsaied Gewailly2, Azza Ebid3
1Soil Science Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
2Agricultural Research Center, Rice Research and Training Center (RRTC), Sakha, 33717, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt
3Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University, P. O. Box 376114 Riyadh 11335, Saudi Arabia

Received 2 September 2013;Accepted 18 October 2013;Published online 1 March 2014
IAEES

Abstract
Biological nitrification inhibition refers to release some chemical substances from plant root that suppresses/slowdown soil nitrification. This study was conducted to clarify whether sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) inhibit nitrification in soil around the root. Sorghum cultivated in pots filled with a brown lowland soil and examined nitrification rate in the soil around its root comparing with bare soil. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, sorghum was cultivated in a growth chamber and soil sample were collected four times during the growth period. Nitrogen in the form of (NH4)2+SO4 (120 mg N /kg soil) was mixed with the soil samples and incubated at 30oC, for 21 days. Nitrification rates were estimated based on NO2-+NO3--N accumulation per unit time. Results showed that in sometime nitrification rate in the soil around sorghum root was lower than that in the bare soil however, in other times there were no difference between them. Second experiment was conducted by using soil samples collected from the pots in which sorghum was cultivated in a greenhouse. The results showed nitrification in the soil around sorghum root was lower than that in the bare soil. Nitrification was inhibited in soil around the sorghum roots, however, this inhibition varied with incubation period. The differences of N application showed a little effect of nitrification inhibition rates.

Keywords sorghum;rhizosphere soil;nitrification inhibition.


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