Chunqin Zou

• China Agricultural University

The antagonistic interplay between phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) in plants is well established. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating those interactions as influenced by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis remain unclear. We investigated Zn concentrations, root AM symbiosis, and transcriptome profiles of maize roots grown under field conditi...

Eliminating both overt and hidden hunger is at the core of the global food and nutrition security agenda. Yet, the collective state of nutrition security at the population level is not known. Here we quantify food-based availability of 11 essential nutrients for 156 countries using a food production–consumption–nutrition model, followed by assessme...

Human zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies can partly be alleviated by enhancing cereal concentrations of these micronutrients. Soil nitrogen (N) levels codetermine cereal grain yields and Zn and Fe nutrition of plants and grains. Grain Zn and Fe concentrations have been reported to be affected by both yield dilution and enhanced acquisition and gr...

Quantitative understanding of photosynthetic production of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under N fertilizer management is crucial for achieving sustainable high grain yield with less environmental risks. A 3‐yr study was conducted to evaluate dry matter and N accumulation for sustainable high grain yield with respect to preanthesis N manageme...

Phosphorus (P) fertilization rates have been dramatically increasing in intensive agro-ecosystems. However, the impact of such long-term P fertilization in intensive agro-ecosystems on the diversity, composition mycorrhizal traits of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities and the relationship between them remains poorly understood. By condu...

Excessive phosphorus (P) inputs from manure and synthetic fertilizers leads to high environmental risk in greenhouse vegetable production systems. In the current study, we determined whether a system of P fertilization that attempts to achieve a zero-P surplus balances agronomic, economic, and environmental concerns. A field experiment was conducte...

In sustainable agriculture, sufficient crop yields and nutrients must be produced while maintaining environmental protection. Considering the role of phosphorus (P) fertilizer in influencing crops yield and environmental security, life cycle assessment was used to examine the environmental impacts of long-term P application on the grain yield and n...

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a well-documented worldwide problem for crops and humans. Although phosphorus (P) fertilizer application achieves high grain yield in intensive agricultural systems, it can reduce Zn availability in cereal grains. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the P–Zn antagonism is needed. A global meta-analysis of 51 publications...

Microbes associated with phosphorus (P) cycling are intrinsic to soil P transformation and availability for plant use but are also influenced by the application of P fertilizer. Nevertheless, the variability in soil P in the field means that integrative analyses of soil P cycling, microbial composition, and microbial functional genes related to P c...

China produces half of the world’s vegetables. The production uses 1.7% of the global harvest area of crops but accounts for 7.8% of the chemical fertilizers and 6.6% of crop-sourced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Using an innovative management programme, the integrated knowledge and products strategy (IKPS), we demonstrate opportunities...

Magnesium (Mg) is essential to many plant physiological and biochemical processes; however, understanding how Mg nutrition quantitatively affects the production, partitioning, and utilization of photoassimilates is still lacking, especially in soilless culture systems. We focused on the roles of Mg in yield formation and interactions with potassium...

Copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) are essential micronutrients for plants and animals. How phosphorus (P) application affects Cu and Fe concentrations in maize grain still remains unclear. Two-year field studies were conducted in a long-term experiment with six P levels (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 kg∙ha−1 P) on calcareous soil. Phosphorus application si...

High input - high output greenhouse vegetable systems are responsible for nutrient surpluses and environmental losses. Integrated strategies that improve soil, crop and nutrient management are needed to ensure more sustainable production systems. We conducted a two-year field experiment to evaluate the potential of integrated soil-crop system manag...

In China there is an urgent need to improve the sustainability of vegetable production by increasing yields and reducing the environmental losses. However, whilst various single nutrient management measures have proved successful at reducing environmental losses, they have not simultaneously increased yield. Here, we report on a three-year field ex...

Quantitative understanding of how fertilizer N affects tiller development is essential for simultaneously achieving high yield and high N use efficiency in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production. A 3‐yr field experiment was conducted on the North China Plain during 2015–2017, with winter wheat grown at five fertilizer N rates (0–300 kg ha⁻¹). The...

Background: Magnesium (Mg) is essential to many plant physiological and biochemical processes; however, a quantitative understanding of how Mg nutrition affects the production, partitioning and utilization of photoassimilates is still lacking, especially for soilless culture system. We focused on the roles of Mg in yield formation and interactions...

Intensive vegetable system is commonly considered as high environmental costs due to high inputs, thus quantifying the mitigation potential of various environmental impacts, and developing strategies to improve the sustainability of this system was critical. Here we used partial life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the environmental impacts of a...

China accounts for more than half of the world's vegetable production, and identifying the contribution of vegetable production to nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in China is therefore important. We performed a meta-analysis that included 153 field measurements of N2O emissions from 21 field studies in China. Our goal was to quantify N2O emissions an...

Although irrigation increases maize yield, its environmental costs, especially those associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, remain unclear. This study evaluated the differences and mitigated potentials of carbon footprint in irrigated and rainfed maize systems, based on a survey of 120 farmers and a life cycle assessment (LCA). The results...

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a common disorder of humans in developing countries. The effect of Zn biofortification (via application of six rates of Zn fertilizer to soil) on Zn bioavailability in wheat grain and flour and its impacts on human health was evaluated. Zn bioavailability was estimated with a trivariate model that included Zn homeostasis in...

To supplement human dietary nutrition, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of phosphorus (P) fertilizer application on grain and flour protein and especially on the bioavailability of zinc (Zn). A field experiment of winter wheat with six P application rates (0, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 kg/ha) was conducted from 2013 to 2015. The grain yield incre...

Although phosphorus (P) is known to reduce zinc (Zn) uptake by roots and root-to-shoot translocation, how this interaction is affected by changes in root morphology and arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are poorly understood. The current study determined the effects of P application rate (0, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 kg P ha−1) on Zn uptake by roots and...

Fe and Zn deficiencies are global nutritional problems. N supply could increase Fe and Zn concentrations in wheat grain. This study was conducted to determine the impacts of different N rates (0, 122, 174, and 300 kg/ha) on the distribution and speciation of Fe and Zn in wheat grain milling fractions under field conditions. Zn and protein concentra...

Understanding grain yield response to potassium fertilizer supply and potassium uptake requirements is essential for devising optimized potassium fertilizer management policies in China. Currently, potassium fertilization is often ignored due to high natural levels of potassium in the soil. We conducted 836 on-farm experiments at 209 sites in China...

It is essential to identify the main components that limit crop yield to achieve high crop yields. We collected data from 156 experimental field plots over six crop seasons to determine the degree to which wheat yield is limited by spike number and to further understand the effects of different sowing dates, seeding rates, and nitrogen (N) manageme...

Grain yields can be limited from delayed seeding worldwide. Perhaps yield suppressions can be overcome by applying farm manure. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of manure application and sowing date on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and population development. A field experiment was conducted over two seasons, with thr...

The relationships between grain yields and whole-plant accumulation of micronutrients such as zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) in maize (Zea mays L.) were investigated by studying their reciprocal internal efficiencies (RIEs, g of micronutrient requirement in plant dry matter per Mg of grain). Field experiments were conducted fr...

With increasing water shortages in China, rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation is gradually shifting away from continuous flooded conditions to partly or even completely aerobic conditions. The effects of this shift on the growth and iron (Fe) nutrition of different aerobic and lowland rice genotypes are poorly understood. A field experiment was cond...

• Retranslocation of iron (Fe) from source leaves to sinks requires soluble Fe binding forms. As much of the Fe is protein-bound and associated with the leaf nitrogen (N) status, we investigated the role of N in Fe mobilization and retranslocation under N deficiency- vs dark-induced leaf senescence. • By excluding Fe retranslocation from the apopla...

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a widely occurring constraint for rice production and for human nutrition. Scarcity of water is leading to a shift from flooded to aerobic rice production, which can have an impact on Zn deficiency in rice. Zinc bioavailability is a function of both soil and plant factors that can be altered by water management, particularly...

As long as 130 years ago Rissmüller reported substantial retranslocation of iron (Fe) from beech leaves (Fagus sylvatica L.) shortly before leaf fall. This rather limited report on Fe retranslocation via the phloem in plants was the reason for this research to study changes in Fe content in individual beech leaves in more detail during the vegetati...

Human deficiencies of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are worldwide problems. Biofortification of wheat could reduce Fe and Zn deficiencies in societies that depend on wheat consumption. This study investigated the effects of foliar application of Fe with or without Zn on the concentrations of Fe and Zn in grain and especially in flour of three wheat culti...

Investigations on concentration of mineral elements including Fe and Zn in wheat grains are important for human health. Two hundreds and sixty-five cultivars and advanced lines were collected and sown at Anyang experimental station of the Institute of Crop Science of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences in season 2005–2006 to evaluate the ge...

The transition from anaerobic to aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation has been reported to decrease Zn bioavailability. To determine and understand the differences in plant Zn uptake between anaerobic and aerobic rice cultivation systems, a field plot experiment was conducted with direct-seeded rice grown on a low-Zn soil under both anaerobic...

Malnutrition related to micronutrient deficiency can create immense economic and societal problems. The objective of this study was to quantify the mineral element concentration distribution in milled fractions, using 43 common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars sown in Jinan, China during the 2005–2006 crop season. All 43 cultivars had low Fe...

The diets of populations subsisting on cereals are often lacking in micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). This can be ascribed partly to crop production failing to deliver proper nutrition. For instance, the concentrations of Fe and Zn in wheat grain show a decreasing trend with the use of high-yield varieties. Although the traditional st...

Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient for human beings. However, Zn malnutrition has become a major problem throughout the world. Wheat is the most important food crop in the world, therefore, developing Zn-enriched wheat varieties provides an effective approach to reduce Zn malnutrition in human beings. The aim of this study was to understand th...

The essential micronutrients for field crops are Fe, Zn, B, Mo, Cu and Mn. The incidence of micronutrient deficiency has increased in recent years. Iron and Zn deficiency are paid more attention because they negatively affect both food production and human health in a major part of the world. In this paper, the Fe, Zn, B, Mo, Mn and Cu deficiency s...

Plant Zn uptake from low Zn soils can be increased by Zn-mobilizing chemical rhizosphere processes. We studied whether inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can be an additional or an alternative strategy. We determined the effect of AMF inoculation on growth performance and Zn uptake by rice genotypes varying in Zn uptake when nonmyc...

To characterize the effect of silicon (Si) on decreasing transpiration rate in maize (Zea mays L.) plants, the transpiration rate and conductance from both leaves and cuticula of maize plants were measured directly. Plants were grown in nutrient solutions with and without Si under both normal water conditions and drought stress [20% polyethylene gl...

The distribution of phosphorus (P), photosynthates, and the amount of assimilated 14C secreted as root exudate were measured in wheat genotypes differing in phosphorus efficiency. Two wheat genotypes, one P-efficient (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Xiaoyan 54) and the other inefficient (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Jing 411) were used in this study. The pl...

Scarcity of water causes a shift from flooded to aerobic conditions for rice production in zinc deficient areas in Northern China. This shift alters soil conditions that affect zinc availability to the crop. This paper concerns the effect of aerobic compared to flooded conditions on crop biomass production, grain yield and zinc content. A field exp...

To study variation in zinc efficiency (ZE) among current Chinese rice genotypes, a pot experiment was conducted with 15 aerobic and 8 lowland rice genotypes. Aerobic rice is currently bred by crossing lowland with upland rice genotypes, for growth in an aerobic cultivation system, which is saving water and producing high yields. A Zn deficient clay...

The influences of nitrogen form (NH4 , NO3 , and NH4NO3) with or without CaCO3 on the growth and potassium (K) and nitrogen (N) uptake and partitioning of flue-cured tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. ‘K326’) were examined under the controlled conditions of nutrient-solution culture. Tobacco seedlings with four true leaves were grown in mixed...

The influence of silicon (Si) on water use efficiency (WUE) in maize plants (Zea mays L. cv. Nongda108) was investigated and the results showed that plants treated with 2 mmol L silicic acid (Si) had 20% higher WUE than that of plants without Si application. The WUE was increased up to 35% when the plants were exposed to water stress and this was a...

The effect of nitrogen form on pH and concentration of soluble iron (Fe) in leaf apoplast was investigated in hydrophonically grown sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus L. cv. Frankasol), and the mechanism underlying the improved Fe nutrition by ammonium (NH4) supply was also elucidated. Ammonium supply ameliorated Fe nutrition of plants grown witho...

The effects of ammonium (NH 4 + -N) and nitrate (NO 3 − -N) were examined on Fe fractions and FeCN (ferricyanide) reductase activity in intact root tips (0–3 cm) of young maize (Zea mays L. cv. Lenz) in solution culture by using short-term experiment under controlled Fe deficiency conditions (containing high HCO 3 − concentration in preculture solu...

Comparative studies on the effect of nitrogen (N) form on iron (Fe) uptake and distribution in maize (Zea mays L. cv Yellow 417) were carried out through three related experiments with different pretreatments. Experiment 1: plants were precultured in nutrient solution with 1.010–4 M FeEDTA for 6 d and then exposed to NO3–N or NH4–N solution with 1....