Identification of several wheat landraces with biological nitrification inhibition capacity

Background and aims Nitrification is the first step in several pathways that lead to losses of nitrogen from agricultural systems. Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) refers to the ability of some plant species to release chemicals from their roots that inhibit microbial ammonia oxidation thereby decreasing nitrification rates. BNI has been found in the wheat relative Leymus racemosus but not in Triticum aestivum. The aim of this work was to assess a number of landraces of Triticum aestivum for BNI ability.