Promoting microbial nitrogen cycling to improve crop nitrogen availability

由于能源成本上升和环境破坏，目前的氮肥施用水平是不可持续的。植物根系分泌物可以改变氮循环土壤微生物的活性，这可能为更有效的氮肥提供一条途径。然而，控制根系分泌物活性的机制仍然不清楚。这里的目的是利用拟南芥和作物突变体来了解植物如何操纵微生物氮循环。植物对氮的偏好受包括碳状况在内的许多因素的影响。具有气孔数量改变的基因定义突变体将允许解剖机制。

Current levels of nitrogen fertilizer application to crops are unsustainable because of rising energy costs and environmental damage. Plant root exudates can alter the activity of N cycling soil microbes and this could provide a route to more efficient N-fertilisation. However, the mechanisms governing root exudate activity remain obscure. The aim here is to use Arabidopsis and crop mutants to understand how plants manipulate microbial N cycling. Plant N preference is affected by a number of factors including carbon status. Genetically defined mutants with altered numbers of stomata will allow the dissection of mechanisms.