Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2025, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (4): 513-525.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2024.0024  cstr: 32100.14.cjpe.2024.0024

• Review •     Next Articles

Studies on the emission of nitrous oxide from terrestrial plants

JIANG Xiao-Yu1,2, YU Xin-Miao1,2, LIAO Qin1, ZHANG Jin-Wei3, WU Xue-Feng4, WANG Xu1, PAN Jun-Tong1, WANG Jun-Feng1,2, MU Chun-Sheng1,2, SHI Yu-Jie1,2,*()()   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecological Science, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130022, China
    2Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, Songyuan, Jilin 131500, China
    3College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150006, China
    4Chongqing Institute of Quality and Standardization, Chongqing 400023, China
  • Received:2024-01-24 Accepted:2024-10-09 Online:2025-04-20 Published:2025-04-18
  • Contact: * (shiyj455@nenu.edu.cn)
  • Supported by:
    Jilin Provincial Natural Science Foundation(20240101027JJ);National Natural Science Foundation of China(32201365)

Abstract:

As a greenhouse gas with a strong warming effect, nitrous oxide (N2O) is also one of the main substances which destroy the atmospheric ozone layer, with a strong feedback effect on climate change. Plants are another important source of N2O emissions in terrestrial ecosystems besides soil, and related studies have received extensive attention in recent years. Based on the existing research results, the related research methods, mechanisms and their influencing factors on N2O emissions from terrestrial plants are summarized in this study. Existing studies have mainly determined the changes in N2O emission from plants by in situ and in vitro methods. The potential mechanisms for N2O emission from terrestrial plants are as follows: 1) the plant produces N2O during nitrogen metabolism; 2) microbial activities in or on the surface of the plant produce N2O; and 3) the plant acts as a soil N2O channel during the gas exchange process. The N2O emissions from plant are related to internal and external factors. The internal factors include plant species, different organs of the same plant and different developmental periods, etc.; external factors include light, temperature, water, nutrients and microorganisms. However, there is still a lack of in-depth analysis on the specific mechanisms. Therefore, combining metagenomic technology to determine plant microbial genomes under different soil environmental conditions, and analyzing their microbial community structure were applied to elucidate the microbial mechanisms underlying the flux differences of N2O emissions from plants in different habitats. The metatranscriptome technology was used to determine total RNA in plant tissues and analyze the expression abundance changes of N2O emission related genes under different environmental conditions. And isotope labeling technology was further used to track the nitrogen metabolism process of plants and reveal the mechanism of N2O flux changes in plants. These results are of great significance for supplementing and improving N2O prediction models such as “Ecosys” for global climate change, which provide theoretical reference for the formulation of greenhouse gas emission reduction measures.

Key words: greenhouse gases, plants N2O flux, emission mechanisms, influencing factors, research method