Genetic Engineering and Molecular Strategies for Nutrient Manipulation in Plants

Recently, there has been a remarkable increase in rice production owing to genetic improvement and increase in application of synthetic fertilizers. For sustainable agriculture, there is dire need to maintain a balance between profitability and input cost. To meet the steady growing demands of the farming community, researchers are utilizing all available resources to identify nutrient use efficient germplasm, but with very little success. Therefore, it is essential to understand the underlying genetic mechanism controlling nutrients efficiency, with the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) being the most important trait. Information regarding genetic factors controlling nitrogen (N) transporters, assimilators, and remobilizers can help to identify candidate germplasms via highthroughput technologies. Large-scale field trials have provided morphological, physiological, and biochemical trait data for the detection of genomic regions controlling NUE. The functional aspects of these attributes are time-consuming, costly, labor-intensive, and less accurate. Therefore, the application of novel plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) with context to genome engineering has opened new avenues of research for crop improvement programs. Most recently, genome editing technologies (GETs) have undergone enormous development with various versions from Cas9, Cpf1, base, and prime editing. These GETs have been vigorously adapted in plant sciences for novel trait development to insure food quantity and quality. Base editing has been successfully applied to improve NUE in rice, demonstrating the potential of GETs to develop germplasms with improved resource use efficiency. NPBTs continue to face regulatory setbacks in some countries due to genome editing being categorized in the same category as genetically modified (GM) crops. Therefore, it is essential to involve all stakeholders in a detailed discussion on NPBTs and to formulate uniform policies tackling biosafety, social, ethical, and environmental concerns. In the current review, we have discussed the genetic mechanism of NUE and NPBTs for crop improvement programs with proof of concepts, transgenic and GET application for the development of NUE germplasms, and regulatory aspects of genome edited crops with future directions considering NUE.

show abstract

“…32 Over 80 genes have been identified in the NRT1 and NRT2 families, but only a select few have were found to belong to the NRT1 family. 33,34…”

Section: Genetics Mechanism For Nuementioning

confidence: 99%

Novel plant breeding techniques to advance nitrogen use efficiency in rice: A review

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Rice Breeding and Genomics Approaches for Improving Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Syed

Alam

Hossain

et al. 2020

Rice Research for Quality Improvement: Genomics and Genetic Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Genetic Engineering and Molecular Strategies for Nutrient Manipulation in Plants

Cited by 2 publications

References 263 publications

Novel plant breeding techniques to advance nitrogen use efficiency in rice: A review

Novel plant breeding techniques to advance nitrogen use efficiency in rice: A review

Rice Breeding and Genomics Approaches for Improving Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About