State Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia.
State Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia.
Plant Sci. 2021 Feb;303:110759. doi: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2020.110759. Epub 2020 Nov 15.
High nitrogen application aimed at increasing crop yield is offset by higher production costs and negative environmental consequences. For wheat, only one third of the applied nitrogen is utilized, which indicates there is scope for increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE). However, achieving greater NUE is challenged by the complexity of the trait, which comprises processes associated with nitrogen uptake, transport, reduction, assimilation, translocation and remobilization. Thus, knowledge of the genetic regulation of these processes is critical in increasing NUE. Although primary nitrogen uptake and metabolism-related genes have been well studied, the relative influence of each towards NUE is not fully understood. Recent attention has focused on engineering transcription factors and identification of miRNAs acting on expression of specific genes related to NUE. Knowledge obtained from model species needs to be translated into wheat using recently-released whole genome sequences, and by exploring genetic variations of NUE-related traits in wild relatives and ancient germplasm. Recent findings indicate the genetic basis of NUE is complex. Pyramiding various genes will be the most effective approach to achieve a satisfactory level of NUE in the field.
高氮施用量旨在提高作物产量，但却会增加生产成本并带来负面的环境后果。对于小麦来说，只有三分之一的施氮被利用，这表明提高氮素利用效率（NUE）有一定的空间。然而，由于该特性的复杂性，实现更高的 NUE 面临挑战，其包含与氮吸收、运输、还原、同化、转运和再利用相关的过程。因此，了解这些过程的遗传调控对于提高 NUE 至关重要。尽管已经对初级氮吸收和代谢相关基因进行了深入研究，但每个基因对 NUE 的相对影响尚不完全清楚。最近的研究重点集中在工程转录因子和鉴定 miRNA 对与 NUE 相关的特定基因表达的作用上。需要利用最近发布的全基因组序列将从模式物种中获得的知识转化为小麦，并探索野生近缘种和古代种质资源中与 NUE 相关性状的遗传变异。最近的研究结果表明，NUE 的遗传基础是复杂的。通过聚合各种基因，将是在田间实现令人满意的 NUE 水平的最有效方法。
