Ethephon amendment impacts on soil microbiome Metagenome

Ethylene, a plant growth regulator is known to have a strong inhibitory effect on methanogenesis. However, since ethylene is gaseous form and has very low water solubility, it has not been developed as a soil amendment to suppress methanogenesis in flooded rice paddies. To develop ethylene as a prospective soil amendment for reducing methane (CH4) emission in flooded soil conditions, ethephon (2-Chloroethylphosphonic acid), a precursor of ethylene was formulated and applied to rice paddies at different concentration. Soil bacterial and archaeal community structure and abundance of methanogens and methanotrophs were investigated to reveal the specific or non-specific inhibitory effects of ethephon-polymer compounds on methanogens.