Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures
The improvement in yield in cultivar mixtures has been well established. Despite increasing knowledge of the improvement involving within-species diversification and resource use efficiency, little is known about the benefits arising from relatedness-mediated intraspecific interactions in cultivar m...
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MDPI AG
2025-08-01
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| author | You Xu Qin-Hang Han Shuai-Shuai Xie Chui-Hua Kong |
| author_facet | You Xu Qin-Hang Han Shuai-Shuai Xie Chui-Hua Kong |
| author_sort | You Xu |
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| description | The improvement in yield in cultivar mixtures has been well established. Despite increasing knowledge of the improvement involving within-species diversification and resource use efficiency, little is known about the benefits arising from relatedness-mediated intraspecific interactions in cultivar mixtures. This study used a relatedness gradient of rice cultivars to test whether neighbor relatedness contributes to improvements in grain yields in cultivar mixtures. We experimentally demonstrated the grain yield of rice cultivar mixtures with varying genetic relatedness under both field and controlled conditions. As a result, a closely related cultivar mixture had increased grain yield compared to monoculture and distantly related mixtures by optimizing the root-to-shoot ratio and accelerating flowering. The benefits over monoculture were most pronounced when compared to the significant yield reductions observed in distantly related mixtures. The relatedness-mediated improvement in yields depended on soil volume and nitrogen use level, with effects attenuating under larger soil volumes or nitrogen deficiency. Furthermore, neighbor relatedness enhanced the richness and diversity of both bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil, leading to a significant restructuring of the microbial community composition. These findings suggest that neighbor relatedness may improve the grain yield of rice cultivar mixtures. Beneficial plant–plant interactions may be generated by manipulating cultivar kinship within a crop species. A thorough understanding of kinship strategies in cultivar mixtures offers promising prospects for increasing crop production. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df61c9f800954f77aa73f3a84dea7245 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj-art-df61c9f800954f77aa73f3a84dea72452025-08-20T04:00:49ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-08-011415238510.3390/plants14152385Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar MixturesYou Xu0Qin-Hang Han1Shuai-Shuai Xie2Chui-Hua Kong3College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaThe improvement in yield in cultivar mixtures has been well established. Despite increasing knowledge of the improvement involving within-species diversification and resource use efficiency, little is known about the benefits arising from relatedness-mediated intraspecific interactions in cultivar mixtures. This study used a relatedness gradient of rice cultivars to test whether neighbor relatedness contributes to improvements in grain yields in cultivar mixtures. We experimentally demonstrated the grain yield of rice cultivar mixtures with varying genetic relatedness under both field and controlled conditions. As a result, a closely related cultivar mixture had increased grain yield compared to monoculture and distantly related mixtures by optimizing the root-to-shoot ratio and accelerating flowering. The benefits over monoculture were most pronounced when compared to the significant yield reductions observed in distantly related mixtures. The relatedness-mediated improvement in yields depended on soil volume and nitrogen use level, with effects attenuating under larger soil volumes or nitrogen deficiency. Furthermore, neighbor relatedness enhanced the richness and diversity of both bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere soil, leading to a significant restructuring of the microbial community composition. These findings suggest that neighbor relatedness may improve the grain yield of rice cultivar mixtures. Beneficial plant–plant interactions may be generated by manipulating cultivar kinship within a crop species. A thorough understanding of kinship strategies in cultivar mixtures offers promising prospects for increasing crop production.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/15/2385effect of relatednessflowering timekin recognitionneighboring cultivar identitynitrogen use levelrhizosphere microbial community |
| spellingShingle | You Xu Qin-Hang Han Shuai-Shuai Xie Chui-Hua Kong Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures Plants effect of relatedness flowering time kin recognition neighboring cultivar identity nitrogen use level rhizosphere microbial community |
| title | Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures |
| title_full | Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures |
| title_fullStr | Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures |
| title_short | Neighbor Relatedness Contributes to Improvement in Grain Yields in Rice Cultivar Mixtures |
| title_sort | neighbor relatedness contributes to improvement in grain yields in rice cultivar mixtures |
| topic | effect of relatedness flowering time kin recognition neighboring cultivar identity nitrogen use level rhizosphere microbial community |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/15/2385 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT youxu neighborrelatednesscontributestoimprovementingrainyieldsinricecultivarmixtures AT qinhanghan neighborrelatednesscontributestoimprovementingrainyieldsinricecultivarmixtures AT shuaishuaixie neighborrelatednesscontributestoimprovementingrainyieldsinricecultivarmixtures AT chuihuakong neighborrelatednesscontributestoimprovementingrainyieldsinricecultivarmixtures |