Abstract
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient required in large quantities for the proper growth and development of plants. Nitrogen is the most limiting macronutrient for crop production in most of the world’s agricultural areas. The dynamic nature of nitrogen and its tendency to lose soil and environment systems create a unique and challenging environment for its proper management. Exploiting genetic diversity, developing nutrient efficient novel varieties with better agronomy and crop management practices combined with improved crop genetics have been significant factors behind increased crop production. In this review, we highlight the various biochemical, genetic factors and the regulatory mechanisms controlling the plant nitrogen economy necessary for reducing fertilizer cost and improving nitrogen use efficiency while maintaining an acceptable grain yield.
Highlights
Cereal crops are highly cultivated in comparison to other crops worldwide
Several factors are reported to influence the requirement of nitrogen and it is observed that NUE decreases when nitrogen use efficiency are inversely related, so it very important for breeders to design cultivation programs to achieve comparatively successful NUE without compromising grain yield (Oury and Godin, 2007) and to develop such cultivars, it is very important to understand the details of various genetic, physiological, and biochemical factors affecting nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUpE) and nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUtE)
The present review focuses on the multiple biochemical and genetic factors affecting NUE directly and indirectly
Summary
Cereal crops are highly cultivated in comparison to other crops worldwide. Among cereals, rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and maize (Zea mays L.) are most important in terms of human nutrition and represent 90% of cereal production worldwide. Several factors are reported to influence the requirement of nitrogen and it is observed that NUE decreases when nitrogen use efficiency are inversely related, so it very important for breeders to design cultivation programs to achieve comparatively successful NUE without compromising grain yield (Oury and Godin, 2007) and to develop such cultivars, it is very important to understand the details of various genetic, physiological, and biochemical factors affecting NUpE and NUtE. Previous studies reported several genes/proteins associated with root architecture in different cereal crops.
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