Nitrogen as a fertilizer can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can also have negative effects, such as groundwater pollution, high energy consumption in fertilizer production and the generation of climate-relevant gases. Science is therefore looking for ways to help crops thrive with less nitrogen. Researchers at the University of Bonn have discovered gene variants of the nitrate sensor NPF2.12 that trigger a signal cascade chain at low soil nitrogen levels. This induces stronger root growth, resulting in improved nitrogen utilization. The study had already been published online in advance in "New Phytologist." The final version has now been published.
"We studied a large number of wheat and barley genotypes under different nitrogen supply conditions and analyzed their root architecture and nitrogen accumulation in the plants," says lead author Md. Nurealam Sidiqqui of the Plant Breeding group at the University of Bonn's Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES). The researchers studied a total of more than 220 different wheat and barley varieties from the last half century of plant breeding. "The wheat varieties studied were selected to cover the breeding history over the last 60 years," explains Prof. Dr. Jens Léon of INRES Plant Breeding.
At the University of Bonn's agricultural research campus Klein-Altendorf, the researchers studied these different varieties on trial plots with high nitrogen levels and, for comparison, on plots with low nitrogen application. The team then analyzed, among other aspects root traits characteristics and the nitrogen content of leaves and grains of each variety, and performed genome-wide genetic analyses to find correlations between DNA sequences and the corresponding traits, Prof. Léon further explains.
Read more at: University of Bonn
Wheat varieties with a specific NPF2.12 gene variant (right) have significantly better root growth at low nitrogen levels in the soil than varieties without this gene variant (left). (Photo Credit: © Md. Nurealam Siddiqui)