An article by JIRCAS and NARO, ”Biological nitrification inhibition in maize — isolation and identification of hydrophobic inhibitors from root exudates”, was published on June 17th in Biology and Fertility of Soils. In the article, we reported the first successful identification of BNI compounds from maize roots.
The joint research group discovered a new strong BNI compound from a root surface of maize, together with three BNI compounds. The compound was named zeanone because it was first isolated in nature. Four identified compounds contributed to 45% of the total BNI activities of maize roots. An enhancing BNI capacity of maize, the world’s most producing crop, by isolated BNI compounds will lead to the reduction of loss of N-fertilizer along with environmental pollution, which will improve the N-cycle of the earth.
JIRCAS will continue to promote further isolation and identification of remaining BNI compounds in maize-roots, and elucidation of the field dynamics of the compounds to identify highly BNI active maize lines for the BNI-maize production system. These activities shed light on utilizing BNI technology as a planet-friendly and efficient tool in the maize production system.