Functional analysis of NLP7 for optimising nitrate responsive growth

NLP7 优化硝酸盐响应生长的功能分析

• 批准号: BB/M02184X/1
• 负责人: Michael Bevan
• 金额: $ 57.63万
• 依托单位: John Innes Centre
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM02184X%2F1
• 关键词: Functional; analysis; NLP7; optimising; nitrate

Plants use nutrients from the soil, energy from sunlight, and air and water to produce all the metabolites they need for growth. In turn plants provide, directly and indirectly, essentially all of the nutrients that sustain humans. Nutrient acquisition from the soil requires special proteins called transporters that can take up trace levels of nutrients from the soil. Because soil composition varies, plants adapt their growth requirements to nutrient availability by altering the levels and activities of nutrient transporters so that plant growth is optimised even though nutrient levels change. Much has been learnt about the mechanisms involved in controlling nitrate uptake and utilisation for growth because it has a key bearing on the application of fertilisers. The high yields of crops are critically dependent on the application of high levels of fertilisers such as NPK to supply the main nutrients. About 1/3 of applied nitrogenous fertiliser is actually taken up and used by the plant, with the rest remaining bound in the soil or washed away into watercourses, where it is a major pollutant. Consequently the application of nitrate-containing fertilisers is limited by legislation, and may need to be reduced further. However, many modern crop varieties have been bred to produce high yields in response to high nitrate applications. Therefore we need to breed new crop varieties that can maintain high levels of productivity in relatively low nitrate levels. One way of approaching this challenge is to understand precisely how plants respond to nitrate levels in the soil and programme their metabolism and growth to take up and metabolise nitrate for growth. We have recently identified a genetic switch that coordinates this response. We have shown that this switch requires both nitrate and sugars to work, and that it may provide a way for plants to coordinate the supply of nitrate from the soil and energy and carbohydrates from photosynthesis to make nutrients for growth. In this research project we aim to understand this switch in a precise quantitative way, and then to subtly alter components to see if we can make a switch that has different quantitative responses to nitrate and sugar levels. We will then test if this alters plant growth responses to nitrate and illumination levels. In this way the proposed research will provide new knowledge and understanding that can be used to create new crop varieties that can grow and produce good yields from reduced inputs of fertilisers. This will help achieve more environmentally sustainable agricultural production systems for major crops.

植物使用土壤中的养分，阳光和空气和水的能量来生产其生长所需的所有代谢产物。反过来，植物直接和间接地提供了维持人类的所有营养。从土壤中获取养分需要特殊的蛋白质，称为转运蛋白，这些蛋白质可以从土壤中吸收痕量的养分。由于土壤成分各不相同，因此植物通过改变营养转运蛋白的水平和活动来使其生长需求适应养分的可用性，从而优化植物生长，即使养分水平发生了变化。关于控制硝酸盐摄取和利用的机制，已经了解了很多关于肥料的施用的机制。农作物的高产量严重取决于高水平的肥料（如NPK）提供主要营养素的应用。实际上，该植物实际上将大约1/3的氮肥服用并使用，其余的保留在土壤中或被冲入水道上，在水上是主要污染物。因此，含硝酸盐的肥料的应用受法律的限制，可能需要进一步减少。但是，许多现代作物品种已被繁殖以响应高硝酸盐应用而产生高收益。因此，我们需要繁殖新的农作物品种，这些品种可以在相对较低的硝酸盐水平中维持高水平的生产率。应对这一挑战的一种方法是准确了解植物如何对土壤中的硝酸盐水平反应，并对其新陈代谢和生长进行编程，以实现并代谢硝酸盐以促进生长。我们最近确定了一个遗传开关，该开关可以协调这一反应。我们已经表明，这种开关需要硝酸盐和糖才能起作用，并且可以为植物提供一种方法来协调从光合作用的土壤，能量和碳水化合物中的硝酸盐供应，从光合作用，以使养分生长。在该研究项目中，我们旨在以一种精确的定量方式理解此转换，然后巧妙地更改组件，以查看我们是否可以做出对硝酸盐和糖水平具有不同定量响应的开关。然后，我们将测试这种植物对硝酸盐和照明水平的反应是否改变。通过这种方式，拟议的研究将提供新的知识和理解，可用于创造新的农作物品种，这些品种可以从减少的肥料投入中增长和产生良好的产量。这将有助于为主要农作物实现更环境可持续的农业生产系统。