Targeting Nitrogen Metabolism and Transport Processes to Improve Plant Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Snyder, Rachel; Tegeder, Mechthild

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.628366

Cited by 96 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 384 publications

(650 reference statements)

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“…For relevance to crop breeding, Moll et al (1982) partitioned a NUE variant into N uptake efficiency (NUpE), the fraction of N inputs found in the shoot of the plant at maturity, and NUtE, the weight of grain produced per unit of acquired N (Moll et al, 1982). Traits that contribute to plant NUE range from N uptake, assimilation, partitioning processes and transient storage, to N remobilization and utilization in source and sink organs (Tegeder and Masclaux-Daubresse, 2018;Raghuram and Sharma, 2019;The et al, 2021). We propose synergistic breeding activities to improve underlying traits in the NUE functional hierarchy.…”

Section: Plant Breeding For Improved Nuementioning

confidence: 99%

A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

Udvardi

Below

Castellano

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Nitrogen (N) is an essential but generally limiting nutrient for biological systems. Development of the Haber-Bosch industrial process for ammonia synthesis helped to relieve N limitation of agricultural production, fueling the Green Revolution and reducing hunger. However, the massive use of industrial N fertilizer has doubled the N moving through the global N cycle with dramatic environmental consequences that threaten planetary health. Thus, there is an urgent need to reduce losses of reactive N from agriculture, while ensuring sufficient N inputs for food security. Here we review current knowledge related to N use efficiency (NUE) in agriculture and identify research opportunities in the areas of agronomy, plant breeding, biological N fixation (BNF), soil N cycling, and modeling to achieve responsible, sustainable use of N in agriculture. Amongst these opportunities, improved agricultural practices that synchronize crop N demand with soil N availability are low-hanging fruit. Crop breeding that targets root and shoot physiological processes will likely increase N uptake and utilization of soil N, while breeding for BNF effectiveness in legumes will enhance overall system NUE. Likewise, engineering of novel N-fixing symbioses in non-legumes could reduce the need for chemical fertilizers in agroecosystems but is a much longer-term goal. The use of simulation modeling to conceptualize the complex, interwoven processes that affect agroecosystem NUE, along with multi-objective optimization, will also accelerate NUE gains.

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Section: Plant Breeding For Improved Nuementioning

confidence: 99%

A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

Udvardi

Below

Castellano

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Some studies show that the improvement of rice and wheat varieties can improve their grain yield potential and the response to N fertilizer, which facilitates the effect of N fertilizer on grain yield and, thus, improves the NUE (4,22,51). In addition to variety, crop NUE was also significantly affected by factors, such as N application, soil fertility, tillage, and N fertilization management (52).…”

Section: Driving Factors Of Overall Nue Improvement In the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies report that farmland in the Taihu Lake region has been overfertilized to achieve high grain yield for a long time, resulting in low N use efficiency (NUE) (fertilizer N recovery in crop aboveground biomass) (3). Low NUE not only inhibits the increase in grain yield, but also causes significant loss of nitrogen fertilizer and damage to the ecological environment (4). Since the beginning of the twentieth century, precise fertilization technology for soil testing and formula fertilization have been promoted in the Taihu lake region (5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics and Driving Factors of Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Wheat–Rice Rotation Systems in the Taihu Lake Region

Lu¹,

Ma²,

Yu³

et al. 2021

Front. Soil Sci.

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During the past three decades, a large amount of nitrogen (N) fertilizers has been applied in the rice and wheat rotation system in the Taihu Lake region of southern China to achieve high yield, resulting in low N use efficiency (NUE). China is implementing the national strategy “fertilizer reduction with efficiency increase” to solve the serious ecological problems caused by excessive fertilization. However, the effects of N fertilizer reduction on soil fertility and their integrated effect on NUE of rice–wheat rotation systems in the Taihu Lake region are not fully understood. In this study, test fields with different soil-fertility qualities were selected in typical rice–wheat areas in the Taihu Lake region to perform a 2-year rice–wheat N fertilizer effect test to obtain the comprehensive quantitative relationship among the integrated fertility index (IFI), nitrogen application level (NA), and NUE. Through the investigation and spatial analysis of NA and IFI in the study area in 2003 and 2017, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of NA and IFI in the study area in the past 15-year period were obtained, and this information was spatially coupled with the comprehensive quantitative relationship model of NUE to reveal the variation characteristics and driving factors of NUE in the study area. The result shows that the wheat and rice NA in the study area in 2017 increased by 35.5 and 8.4%, respectively, compared with 2003. Due to excessive fertilization, the soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of cultivated land in the study area in 2017 was greater than that in 2003, especially soil-available phosphorus and potassium contents, whereas soil organic matter (SOM) content was reduced. The cultivated land IFI of the study area as a whole increased by 7.2% in the 15-year period. The NUE of rice and wheat rotation increased by 5.8% in 2017 compared with that of 2003 due to the improvement in crop varieties and N fertilizer yield benefits. The increases of NA and IFI both have negative correlations with the NUE improvement, and the NA increase has a greater impact. In addition, the terrain, soil type, texture, and parent material also affect the soil nutrient-preserving capability and, thus, affect the spatial variation of IFI and NUE improvement. These factors have greater influence on NUE improvement of wheat than rice. This study provides a novel and effective method for analyzing the spatial-temporal variation characteristics of NUE in the rice–wheat system and is conducive to guide precise fertilization and N fertilizer reduction based on the spatial analysis of NA with IFI and NUE.

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“…Research in this field is carried out very intensively and the achievements are constantly summarized in reviews. Several excellent reviews have been published recently both on improving the NUE in general [ 10 , 11 ] and in specific plant species, mainly rice [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In our review, we focused on the practical achievements of bioengineering modification of key steps in N metabolism at the plant level of crops (biomass and yield) without taking into account model objects (Arabidopsis and tobacco).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Engineering and Genome Editing for Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Plants

Lebedev

Popova

Shestibratov

2021

Cells

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Low nitrogen availability is one of the main limiting factors for plant growth and development, and high doses of N fertilizers are necessary to achieve high yields in agriculture. However, most N is not used by plants and pollutes the environment. This situation can be improved by enhancing the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in plants. NUE is a complex trait driven by multiple interactions between genetic and environmental factors, and its improvement requires a fundamental understanding of the key steps in plant N metabolism—uptake, assimilation, and remobilization. This review summarizes two decades of research into bioengineering modification of N metabolism to increase the biomass accumulation and yield in crops. The expression of structural and regulatory genes was most often altered using overexpression strategies, although RNAi and genome editing techniques were also used. Particular attention was paid to woody plants, which have great economic importance, play a crucial role in the ecosystems and have fundamental differences from herbaceous species. The review also considers the issue of unintended effects of transgenic plants with modified N metabolism, e.g., early flowering—a research topic which is currently receiving little attention. The future prospects of improving NUE in crops, essential for the development of sustainable agriculture, using various approaches and in the context of global climate change, are discussed.

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Targeting Nitrogen Metabolism and Transport Processes to Improve Plant Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Cited by 96 publications

References 384 publications

A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

A Research Road Map for Responsible Use of Agricultural Nitrogen

Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics and Driving Factors of Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Wheat–Rice Rotation Systems in the Taihu Lake Region

Genetic Engineering and Genome Editing for Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Plants

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