Sakuraba Yasuhito, Mabuchi Atsushi, Iba Koh, Yanagisawa Shuichi
Plant Functional Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Commun Biol. 2021 Feb 26;4(1):256. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-01775-1.
Identification of genes and their alleles capable of improving plant growth under low nitrogen (N) conditions is key for developing sustainable agriculture. Here, we show that a genome-wide association study using Arabidopsis thaliana accessions suggested an association between different magnitudes of N deficiency responses and diversity in NRT1.1/NPF6.3 that encodes a dual-affinity nitrate transporter involved in nitrate uptake by roots. Various analyses using accessions exhibiting reduced N deficiency responses revealed that enhanced NRT1.1 expression in shoots rather than in roots is responsible for better growth of Arabidopsis seedlings under N deficient conditions. Furthermore, polymorphisms that increased NRT1.1 promoter activity were identified in the NRT1.1 promoter sequences of the accessions analyzed. Hence, our data indicated that polymorphism-dependent activation of the NRT1.1 promoter in shoots could serve as a tool in molecular breeding programs for improving plant growth in low N environments.
鉴定能够在低氮（N）条件下促进植物生长的基因及其等位基因是发展可持续农业的关键。在此，我们表明，利用拟南芥种质进行的全基因组关联研究表明，不同程度的氮缺乏响应与NRT1.1/NPF6.3的多样性之间存在关联，NRT1.1/NPF6.3编码一种参与根系硝酸盐吸收的双亲和性硝酸盐转运蛋白。使用表现出降低的氮缺乏响应的种质进行的各种分析表明，地上部而非根部NRT1.1表达的增强是拟南芥幼苗在缺氮条件下生长更好的原因。此外，在所分析的种质的NRT1.1启动子序列中鉴定出了增加NRT1.1启动子活性的多态性。因此，我们的数据表明，地上部中NRT1.1启动子的多态性依赖性激活可作为分子育种计划中的一种工具，用于改善低氮环境下的植物生长。
