Nitrogen (N) is the major nutrient that most often limits crop productivity. In addition, N has adverse impacts on the environment due to losses in the form of volatile ammonium and nitrous oxide, as well as nitrate, a water pollutant. Thus, crop production systems need to enhance N use efficiency (NUE) to meet the parallel demands for high food production, feasible economics, and low climate and environmental impacts. Although NO3- is the primary form of N found in most agricultural soils, other N forms, including ammonium and amino acids, also play significant roles, especially under conditions of low N levels or organic cultivation. Therefore, we hypothesize that enhanced plant uptake and utilization of a broader range of N forms will benefit breeding programs for N-efficient plant genotypes and the design of agroecosystems with significantly reduced N losses to the environment.
Genotypes of plants that show contrasting NUE will be used to understand the mechanisms behind the plant capacity to acquire and utilize different N forms more efficiently for growth and yield.
You perform experiments under control conditions with aim of obtaining a mechanistic understanding of the contribution of different plant traits to NUE.
In this study, various analytical and molecular approaches (e.g., metabolite and gene expression analysis) will be used to gain insight into the physiological mechanisms underlying high NUE.
