Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2011;62:207-26. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042110-103837.
Sensing and responding to soil nutrient fluctuations are vital for the survival of higher plants. Over the past few years, great progress has been made in our understanding of nitrogen and potassium signaling. Key components of the signaling pathways including sensors, kinases, miRNA, ubiquitin ligases, and transcriptional factors. These components mediate the transcriptional responses, root-architecture changes, and uptake-activity modulation induced by nitrate, ammonium, and potassium in the soil solution. Integration of these responses allows plants to compete for limited nutrients and to survive under nutrient deficiency or toxic nutrient excess. A future challenge is to extend the present fragmented sets of data to a comprehensive signaling network. Then, such knowledge and the accompanying molecular tools can be applied to improve the efficiency of nutrient utilization in crops.
感应和响应土壤养分波动对高等植物的生存至关重要。在过去的几年中，我们对氮和钾信号转导的理解取得了重大进展。信号通路的关键组成部分包括传感器、激酶、miRNA、泛素连接酶和转录因子。这些组成部分介导了土壤溶液中的硝酸盐、铵和钾诱导的转录反应、根系结构变化和吸收活性调节。这些反应的整合使植物能够竞争有限的养分，并在养分缺乏或有毒养分过剩的情况下生存。未来的挑战是将目前零散的数据集扩展到一个综合的信号网络。然后，可以将这些知识和随之而来的分子工具应用于提高作物的养分利用效率。
