Summary
Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers sustain modern rice yields but cause substantial environmental impacts due to low nitrogen-use efficiency. Flooded paddy soils harbor diverse diazotrophs capable of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), yet BNF is highly variable across soils, management, and rice genotypes. Here, we synthesize recent evidence on how rice can be bred to more consistently recruit and stimulate N 2 -fixing microbiomes. We first summarize major diazotroph taxa and niches in paddy ecosystems, highlighting the emerging contribution of iron-reducing bacteria at root iron-plaque interfaces and the principal environmental ‘gates’ on BNF, including flooding regime, bioavailable Fe phases, pH, carbon quality, and mineral-N inputs. We then integrate findings showing that rice genetic vari
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