title: Agronomic nitrogen-use efficiency of rice can be increased by driving OsNRT2.1 expression with the OsNAR2.1 promoter.
abstract: The importance of the nitrate (NO3-) transporter for yield and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) in rice was previously demonstrated using map-based cloning. In this study, we enhanced the expression of the OsNRT2.1 gene, which encodes a high-affinity NO3- transporter, using a ubiquitin (Ubi) promoter and the NO3--inducible promoter of the OsNAR2.1 gene to drive OsNRT2.1 expression in transgenic rice plants. Transgenic lines expressing pUbi:OsNRT2.1 or pOsNAR2.1:OsNRT2.1 constructs exhibited the increased total biomass including yields of approximately 21% and 38% compared with wild-type (WT) plants. The agricultural NUE (ANUE) of the pUbi:OsNRT2.1 lines decreased to 83% of that of the WT plants, while the ANUE of the pOsNAR2.1:OsNRT2.1 lines increased to 128% of that of the WT plants. The dry matter transfer into grain decreased by 68% in the pUbi:OsNRT2.1 lines and increased by 46% in the pOsNAR2.1:OsNRT2.1 lines relative to the WT. The expression of OsNRT2.1 in shoot and grain showed that Ubi enhanced OsNRT2.1 expression by 7.5-fold averagely and OsNAR2.1 promoters increased by about 80% higher than the WT. Interestingly, we found that the OsNAR2.1 was expressed higher in all the organs of pUbi:OsNRT2.1 lines; however, for pOsNAR2.1:OsNRT2.1 lines, OsNAR2.1 expression was only increased in root, leaf sheaths and internodes. We show that increased expression of OsNRT2.1, especially driven by OsNAR2.1 promoter, can improve the yield and NUE in rice.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jingguang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yawen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Longlong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.|Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaorong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D027321:Anion Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D027321:Anion Transport Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Oryza sativa; OsNAR2.1 promoter; OsNRT2.1; agronomic nitrogen-use efficiency
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