Studies have revealed how genes control the efficiency of nitrogen use in crops

have shown that certain genes in crops control the efficiency of nitrogen use, but it is not clear how these genes work and how they affect crops, which are critical for crop improvement and nitrogen utilization.
Recently, the Baiyang Task Force of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Research Group of Storage Talents, revealed that the key factor of rice, "NRT1.1B", changes the microenn environment of rice roots by regulating the microbiome of rice roots, thus affecting the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer utilization among rice subsectors. The results are published in Nature - Biotechnology.is one of the world's most important food crops, with about 90% of the world's rice grown and consumed in Asia. Asian cultivated rice is divided into two main subseeds, indica and indica, which show different characteristics in morphology, development and physiology.
, the research team found that the natural variation of the gene NRT1.1B in rice led to indica having a higher nitrogen fertilizer utilization capacity than indica.
"NRT1.1B encodes a nitrate transport protein, but also a plant nitrogen sensor, it can regulate the absorption, transport and assification of nitrates and other links, indica and indica NRT1.1B have an amino acid difference, resulting in its different nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency. He said.
in the natural environment, the coordination of the host plant and the root microbiome is the key to plant growth. Plant roots provide a "home" for microorganisms to thrive, while microorganisms "accompany" plants throughout their life cycle, helping them absorb nutrients, resist foreign enemies, and adapt to different stress environments.
mainly in the form of nitrates, ammonium and organic nitrogen, while the microbiome in the soil can metabolize different forms of nitrogen, which may affect the efficiency of nitrogen absorption at plant roots.
" root microbiome and its interrelations are the root microbiome, which used to be limited to technical means, and very little research has been done on the interoperability of rice root microbiome and plants. Bai Yang told the China Science Daily that, in fact, not only rice, other plants and root microbiomes between the study of interoperability is still more blank, multi-descriptive research and lack of proof of the principle mechanism.
" rice root microorganisms affect rice growth? We don't know. Bai Yang said they hope to understand the relationship between the microbiome variation of the root microbiome and specific plant-specific features of the rice slug subseed, and to identify the key genes that cause the root microbiome to mutate. This will be of great significance to understand the relationship between the microenn environment of rice root system and rice growth.to bring the study closer to actual rice growth, the researchers first conducted field experiments for more than two years.
The researchers planted 68 indica and 27 indica varieties in two different areas of the experimental field, and collected root microorganisms, and found that there were significant differences in the composition of indica and indica root microorganisms, and that the diversity of microbial groups with indica roots was significantly higher than indica, while the difference characteristics of root-rich microbiomes could be used as biomarkers to distinguish indica.
, we didn't know whether the gene NRT1.1B alone affected nitrogen utilization, or whether the gene altered the root microbiome to affect nitrogen utilization. Bai Yang said that the analysis found that the root microbiome affects the use of nitrogen in rice, and the microbiome associated with nitrogen cycle is rich in the later stages of rice growth. This suggests that some genes may be regulating it, and correlation analysis has shown that the NRT1.1B gene and its natural variation in indica significantly affect the composition of the rice root microbiome.
NRT1.1B gene is like a "commander", recruiting a large number of nitrogen cycle powerful "fine soldier strong bacteria" gathered around the rice root system, to ensure that rice growth in an active nitrogen conversion environment, thus demonstrating efficient nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency.
study also found that the root system of indica is more rich than indica and the microbiome associated with nitrogen circulation, which may also be one of the important reasons why indica nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency is higher than indica.found the law in field experiments, the researchers did not stop, but further confirmed the law.
they successfully isolated and cultured 70% of the bacterial species of rice roots using the high-yield microbial isolation culture and identification system, and established the world's first systematic bacterial reservoir of rice roots.
" fine experiments in the laboratory show that the NRT1.1B gene can indeed regulate many bacteria, help rice to use organic nitrogen in the soil, confirming that the difference between indica and indica nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency is related to the root microbiome. Bai Yang said.
the root microorganisms of plants and the gut microorganisms of animals have the same function, which plays an important role in nutrition absorption and utilization, disease resistance and resistance. "This work has revealed that the precise design of crop varieties not only considers the improvement of the plant itself, but also considers the interoperability of environmental microorganisms, which greatly expands the breeding idea, " he told the China Science Daily. Bai
said china had taken a step forward in its research on the efficiency of plant root microbiomes and plant nitrogen. However, this is only a very preliminary exploration, root microorganisms in addition to plant nitrogen use, whether it is related to other processes? How do plants regulate bacteria to make them probiotics and how does the NRT1.1B gene lead to changes in the root microbiome? More research is needed on these issues. (Source: Han Yangmei, China Science Daily