Reply to Wassmann et al.: More data at high sampling intensity from medium- and intense-intermittently flooded rice farms is crucial

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Here, we briefly respond to critique of our study (1) by Wassmann et al. (2). A detailed response to their letter is available online (edf.org/riceN2O)

Using DMPP with cattle manure can mitigate yield-scaled global warming potential under low rainfall conditions

Organic fertilisers can reduce the carbon (C) footprint from croplands, but adequate management strategies such as the use of nitrification inhibitors are required to minimise side-effects on nitrogen (N) losses to the atmosphere or waterbodies. This could be particularly important in a context on changing rainfall patterns due to climate change. A lysimeter experiment with maize (Zea mays L.) was set up on a coarse sandy soil to evaluate the efficacy of 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) to mitigate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, nitrate (NO3−) leaching losses and net global warming potential from manure, with (R+) and without (R-) simulated rainfall events. Soil water availability was a limiting factor for plant growth and microbial processes due to low rainfall during the growing season. Nitrification was effectively inhibited by DMPP, decreasing topsoil NO3− concentrations by 28% on average and cumulative N2O losses by 82%. Most of the N2O was emitted during the growing season, with annual emission factors of 0.07% and 0.95% for manure with and without DMPP, respectively. Cumulative N2O emissions were 40% higher in R-compared to R+, possibly because of the higher topsoil NO3− concentrations. There was no effect of DMPP or rainfall amount on annual NO3− leaching losses, which corresponded to 12% of manure-N and were mainly driven by the post-harvest period. DMPP did not affect yield or N use efficiency (NUE) while R-caused severe reductions on biomass and NUE. We conclude that dry growing seasons can jeopardize crop production while concurrently increasing greenhouse gas emissions from a sandy soil. The use of nitrification inhibitors is strongly recommended under these conditions to address the climate change impacts.Publishe

High nitrous oxide fluxes from rice indicate the need to manage water for both long- and short-term climate impacts

Global rice cultivation is estimated to account for 2.5% of current anthropogenic warming because of emissions of methane (CH4), a short-lived greenhouse gas. This estimate assumes a widespread prevalence of continuous flooding of most rice fields and hence does not include emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a long-lived greenhouse gas. Based on the belief that minimizing CH4 from rice cultivation is always climate beneficial, current mitigation policies promote increased use of intermittent flooding. However, results from five intermittently flooded rice farms across three agroecological regions in India indicate that N2O emissions per hectare can be three times higher (33 kg-N2O⋅ha−1⋅season−1) than the maximum previously reported. Correlations between N2O emissions and management parameters suggest that N2O emissions from rice across the Indian subcontinent might be 30–45 times higher under intensified use of intermittent flooding than under continuous flooding. Our data further indicate that comanagement of water with inorganic nitrogen and/or organic matter inputs can decrease climate impacts caused by greenhouse gas emissions up to 90% and nitrogen management might not be central to N2O reduction. An understanding of climate benefits/drawbacks over time of different flooding regimes because of differences in N2O and CH4 emissions can help select the most climate-friendly water management regimes for a given area. Region-specific studies of rice farming practices that map flooding regimes and measure effects of multiple comanaged variables on N2O and CH4 emissions are necessary to determine and minimize the climate impacts of rice cultivation over both the short term and long term

Soil and temperature effects on nitrification and denitrification modified N2O mitigation by 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate

International audienceNitrification inhibitors have often been found to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils, but N2O mitigation is variable and may depend on soil and climate variables. This study investigated how key abiotic factors modified the effect of Vizura®, a new formulation with the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) for livestock slurry, on N2O emissions. Two different incubations were carried out to investigate the main and interactive effects of selected factors on N2O emissions after manure application to soil. Experiment 1 studied two contrasting soil textures (coarse sandy vs sandy loam soil) and temperatures (10 vs 20 °C); Experiment 2 used the coarse sandy soil to compare two levels of soil pH (4.9 vs 6.4) and nitrate availability (0 vs 50 mg N kg−1). Nitrous oxide emissions and spatial distribution of mineral N were determined in both experiments, while temporal dynamics of mineral N pools and N-cycling microbial communities were investigated in Experiment 2 only. In sandy loam soil, the efficiency of DMPP to mitigate N2O emissions after manure application was similar at 10 and 20 °C, while in the coarse sandy soil DMPP was not effective at 10 °C, possibly because of low nitrification activity. Nitrous oxide emissions from the coarse sandy soil were higher at pH 4.9 than at pH 6.4, which was accompanied by lower abundance of nosZ genes and therefore potentially higher N2O/(N2+N2O) product ratios. DMPP significantly reduced the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) on all sampling days, but had no effect on ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The inhibitor also reduced the abundance of comammox, which are newly discovered complete ammonia oxidizers. This study showed how soil conditions (soil texture, temperature, pH), through effects on nitrifiers and denitrifiers, and mineral N distribution, can modify the efficiency of nitrification inhibitors in reducing N2O emissions from livestock slurry

Invitro Inhibitory Effect of Polyherbal Formulation on Alpha-Amylase

Abstract: Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar level caused due to deficiency of insulin secretion or insulin action. One of the therapeutic approach to treat Type II Diabetes is to lower the postprandial blood glucose level by inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzyme such as alpha-amylase. In present investigation polyherbal formulation (PHF) composed of 22 medicinal plants having anti-diabetic property were selected from WHO monographs and evaluated for in vitro alpha-amylase inhibitory activity. Air dried powders of 22 medicinal plants were divided into four categories. One formulation named as(PHF1) was used and prepared by mixing the powders in an optimized ratio of 80:10:5:5.Extracts of PHF1 prepared by soxhlet method using polar and non-polar solvent was subjected to Inhibition assay by using Dinitro salicylic acid (DNS) method and phytochemical constituents in the extract was analyzed qualitatively as well as by GC-MS.The results revealed the presence of glycosides, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, phenols and tannins. In vitro study indicates that PHF1 Hot water extract showed maximum percentage inhibitionof alphaamylase activity. This hot water extract of PHF1 can be effective in lowering postprandial hyperglycemia (PPHG)

Regulating BMI1 expression via miRNAs promote Mesenchymal to Epithelial Transition (MET) and sensitizes breast cancer cell to chemotherapeutic drug

<div><p>Polycomb group (PcG) proteinB lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog (BMI1) is a transcriptional repressor that plays an important role in human carcinogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small non-coding RNAsthat implicate a negative regulation on gene expression. Deregulation of the expression of miRNAs has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Here, we have shown that knock-down ofBMI1increases theexpression of tumor-suppressivemiRNAs. Elevated levels of expression of miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-15a, miR-429, miR-203were observed upon knock-down of BMI1. Up-regulation of these miRNAsleads to down-regulation ofPRC1 group of proteins i.e. BMI1, RING1A, RING1B and Ub-H2A. Interestingly, overexpression of miR-200a, miR-200b and miR-15aalso produced decreased BMI1 and Ub-H2A protein expression in the CD44+ Cancer Stem Cellpopulation of MDAMB-231cells. Also,elevating the levels of BMI1 regulated miRNAspromoted Mesenchymal to Epithelial transition by regulating the expression of N-Cadherin, Vimentin, β-Catenin, Zeb, Snail thereby resulting in decreased invasion, migration and proliferation. Here, we also report that miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-203 accretes the sensitivity of MDAMB-231 cells to the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) SAHA and miR-15a sensitized breast cancer cells to the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin leading to apoptosis. These findings suggest that modulatingspecific miRNAs may serve as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of breast cancer</p></div

miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-15a, miR-429, miR-203 inhibits migration and cell proliferation.

<p>Images at 0hrs, 24 hrs and48 hrs of migration assay in MDAMB-231 cells having overexpressed miRNAs as well as transfected with scrambled miRNA vector control (A).Observation of Ki-67 localization under confocal microscopyin MDAMB-231 cellshaving over expressed miRNAs.ScramblemiRNA transfected cells were used as control (B).All the experiments were performed in triplicates.</p