Exploring the nexus of Nitrogen and Carbon utilization and its role in plant growth and the transition to reproductive development

探索氮和碳利用的关系及其在植物生长和生殖发育过渡中的作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05169
• 负责人: Rothstein, Steven
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of Guelph
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=689476
• 关键词: Exploring; nexus; Nitrogen; Carbon; utilization

Summary for Public Release******Worldwide crop production is under considerable stress due to several factors, including population growth, increased crop use per person, increasing atmospheric CO2 and other environmental issues. A major challenge is to increase global crop yields in an economically and environmentally sustainable fashion. A key limiting factor and single largest input cost for many crops is nitrogen (N). Whereas prohibitive fertilizer costs in developing countries leads to lower yields, use of large amounts of N fertilizer causes significant and irreversible environmental damage. Thus, a better understanding of how crops use nitrogen will lead to technology that can enhance crop productivity and would markedly reduce costs and increase yields for farmers of all nations. How plants sense and assimilate N occupies a central node in a complex meshwork of interacting processes. This research focuses on specific nodes of this network to clarify how plants integrate N levels to maximize plant growth. A particular aim of this study is to analyse the functions of two genes involved in distinct yet overlapping nodes. 1) The ENOD93 family genes modulate how plants sense N and transmits this information to coordinate plant growth and flowering time with nutrient availability, which is directly correlated with yield. In preliminary studies, we find that altering activity of ENOD93 genes in different plant species, including important crop plants such as rice, results in improved plant growth with lower N input. 2) Similar to ENOD93, the GATA12 genes regulate growth under different N levels to coordinate growth traits such as flowering time and biomass production. Determining how these genes function, alone or together, will provide insights into the larger genetic network that coordinates nutrient uptake with plant growth. Accordingly, understanding of the underlying mechanisms controlled by these genes could bring to light new and incisive ways to create better crop plants. A general consensus among researchers studying the complexities plant growth is that there is much room for improvement with regard to how plants use nutrients to create biomass and, thus, yield. Improving the efficiency of this process is a vital first step to creating better crops with fewer negative consequences. The ultimate outcome of this research will be to provide knowledge that leads to the production of crop plants needed to feed the majority of the world population with less environmental damage.*****

公众发布的摘要******全球作物产量承受着巨大的压力，包括种群增长，每人增加农作物的使用增加，大气中二氧化碳的增加和其他环境问题。一个主要的挑战是以经济和环境可持续的方式提高全球作物产量。许多农作物的关键限制因素和最大的输入成本是氮（N）。发展中国家的过度肥料成本导致产量较低，而使用大量氮肥会造成严重且不可逆转的环境破坏。因此，更好地了解农作物如何使用氮将导致技术可以提高作物生产率，并显着降低所有国家农民的成本并提高成本并增加产量。在相互作用过程的复杂网格中，植物的感知和同化n占据了中心节点。这项研究的重点是该网络的特定节点，以阐明植物如何整合氮水平以最大化植物的生长。这项研究的一个特殊目的是分析参与不同但重叠节点的两个基因的功能。 1）ENOD93家族基因调节植物如何感知n并传输此信息，以协调植物的生长和开花时间与营养可用性，这与产量直接相关。在初步研究中，我们发现在不同植物物种中的ENOD93基因的活性改变，包括重要的农作物，例如大米，可改善植物的生长，而n输入较低。 2）类似于ENOD93，GATA12基因在不同n水平下调节生长，以协调生长特征，例如开花时间和生物量产生。确定这些基因的单独或共同起作用将如何提供对较大的遗传网络的见解，该网络可以协调养分吸收与植物的生长。 因此，了解这些基因控制的基本机制可能会带来新的和敏锐的方法来创造更好的作物植物。研究植物生长的研究人员之间的普遍共识是，关于植物如何使用营养来创造生物量，从而产生产量，还有很大的改进空间。提高此过程的效率是创造更好的农作物和负面影响较少的更好的农作物的重要第一步。这项研究的最终结果将是提供知识，从而导致养活大多数世界人口所需的农作物的生产。***** *****