Abstract
Globally indigenous nitrogen in soil cannot meet the crop requirement at contemporary production levels. Synthetic nitrogenous fertilisers along with other nutrients have to be applied to sustain existing production and, in many countries, further increase crop production commensurate with their population growth. Nitrogen use efficiency of crops is abysmally low (25–50 %) under uncontrolled field conditions. This not only is an economic loss, but the unutilised nitrogen also causes environmental pollution.
Nitrogen is taken up by plants as NO3 − and NH4 +. It has been recently found that uptake of both the forms is strictly under genetic control. There are high-affinity transporters, which carry the ions across the plasma membrane of root cells when their concentrations in the growth medium are low as well as low-affinity transporters when the concentrations are high. Many of these transporters have been characterised and mechanism of their action is known.
Biotechnological approach to improve nitrogen use efficiency includes overexpression of transporters, manipulation of genes involved in N-uptake, N-assimilation and N-translocation. Transgenic GDH-rice plants have been found to have larger number of tillers, spikelet numbers per panicle, higher biomass production, higher grain yield as well as higher NUE than the control plants. AlaAT transgenic rice shows improved NUE at medium and high N-supply.
Keywords
- Glutamine Synthetase
- Nitrate Uptake
- Glutamine Synthetase Activity
- Nitrate Transporter
- Ammonium Transporter
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Mitra, G.N. (2015). Nitrogen (N) Uptake. In: Regulation of Nutrient Uptake by Plants. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2334-4_2
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