RESEARCH-PGR: Uncovering the molecular mechanisms that integrate nutrient and water dose sensing and impact crop production

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Two resources critical to plant growth, Nitrogen (N) and Water (W), are limited in soils globally, creating marginal soils that are agriculturally unproductive. To engineer or breed crop varieties that can thrive in marginal environments, it must first be understood how plants sense and integrate responses to Nitrogen (N) and Water (W). Detecting the genes and gene regulatory mechanisms plants rely on to sense and respond to multiple environmental inputs is at the leading edge of efforts to adapt crops to a changing climate. Thus, this award resides in Pasteur's quadrant, the scientific space where fundamental scientific discoveries have applied outcomes. The researchers will discover the molecular mechanisms plants rely on to perceive and integrate the abiotic signals N and W using mutant/transgenic analysis on the genetically tractable model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Initial testing in Arabidopsis will prioritize candidate genes to test in rice. This discovery will be exploited to engineer or breed rice adapted to low-N low-W marginal soils. The research will be linked to the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines (IRRI), which is the primary source of new breeding material for stress-prone regions of Asia. Outcomes of this project have a high probability of impact through immediate consideration for deployment into the IRRI trait development pipeline for marginal soil environments. This project offers a unique application of genomics and systems biology approaches to improve crop performance under stress in translating network knowledge from well-studied models to crops. While efforts have focused on how plants signal either N or W status, how plants integrate these two abiotic signals remains unexplored. Whether organisms respond to changes in absolute nutrient amount (moles) vs. its concentration in water (molarity) is particularly relevant in agriculture, as soil drying can alter nutrient concentration, without changing its absolute amount. To compare effects of amount vs. concentration, rice was exposed to a factorial matrix varying nitrogen dose (N) and water (W) in range of combinations, and transcriptome and phenotype responses quantified. Using linear models, researchers identified distinct dose responses to either N-moles, W-volume, N-molarity (N/W), or their synergistic interaction (NxW). Importantly, genes whose expression is best explained by N-dose and W interactions (N/W or NxW) were associated with crop outcomes in field trials. The goal of this grant is to uncover the molecular basis for these N-by-W interactions that affect crop yield. To this end, a collaborative effort between New York University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines proposes to discover the genes responsible for the integration of N and W inputs in the genetically tractable model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and in rice, one of the world's most important crops. This project will use a multidisciplinary approach that combines genomics, bioinformatics, statistical modeling, and plant physiology to understand how plant genomes sense and integrate N and W signals to optimize plant biomass and grain production.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.