Exploring NUE in crops and in Arabidopsis ideotypes to improve yield and seed quality.

There is evidence that crop yields are showing a trend of stagnation in many countries. This review aims to make an inventory of the last decade's crop productions and the associated economic and environmental challenges. Manipulating nitrogen use efficiency in crops appears to be the best way to conciliate global food security, respecting environmental policies, and the need to produce biofuels. In such a context, the specifications of ideal plants for the future are discussed with regards to human needs and taking into account current physiological and genetic knowledge. The approaches undertaken so far to design an ideal crop and to find suitable new germplasms are discussed. The interest in using model plants in agronomic research is illustrated through the recent data provided by studies exploring natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Efficient Arabidopsis ideotypes are proposed and discussed.

[1]  S. Bernard,et al.  The genetics of nitrogen use in hexaploid wheat: N utilisation, development and yield , 2007, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[2]  A. Good,et al.  Can less yield more? Is reducing nutrient input into the environment compatible with maintaining crop production? , 2004, Trends in plant science.

[3]  David Gouache,et al.  Why are wheat yields stagnating in Europe? A comprehensive data analysis for France , 2010 .

[4]  C. Masclaux-Daubresse,et al.  Exploring nitrogen remobilization for seed filling using natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[5]  A. Fernie,et al.  Cytosolic pyruvate,orthophosphate dikinase functions in nitrogen remobilization during leaf senescence and limits individual seed growth and nitrogen content. , 2010, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[6]  A. Fukushima,et al.  Metabolomics data reveal a crucial role of cytosolic glutamine synthetase 1;1 in coordinating metabolic balance in rice. , 2011, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[7]  Z. Qi,et al.  Soybean oil content QTL mapping and integrating with meta-analysis method for mining genes , 2011, Euphytica.

[8]  I. Bancroft,et al.  Unraveling the Complex Trait of Crop Yield With Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping in Brassica napus , 2009, Genetics.

[9]  M. Fitzgerald,et al.  Not just a grain of rice: the quest for quality. , 2009, Trends in plant science.

[10]  B. Goffinet,et al.  Quantitative trait loci: a meta-analysis. , 2000, Genetics.

[11]  F. Daniel-Vedele,et al.  REVIEW: PART OF A SPECIAL ISSUE ON PLANT NUTRITION Nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilization in plants: challenges for sustainable and productive agriculture , 2010 .

[12]  H. Kronzucker,et al.  AtAMT1 gene expression and NH4+ uptake in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana: evidence for regulation by root glutamine levels. , 1999, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[13]  A. Miller,et al.  TRANSPORTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UPTAKE AND PARTITIONING OF NITROGENOUS SOLUTES. , 2001, Annual review of plant physiology and plant molecular biology.

[14]  J. Veyrieras,et al.  Genetic variation for N-remobilization and postsilking N-uptake in a set of maize recombinant inbred lines. 3. QTL detection and coincidences , 2008, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[15]  M. Yano,et al.  Mapping of QTLs associated with cytosolic glutamine synthetase and NADH-glutamate synthase in rice (Oryza sativa L.). , 2001, Journal of experimental botany.

[16]  O. Loudet,et al.  Quantitative Trait Loci Analysis of Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Arabidopsis , 2003, Plant Physiology.

[17]  J. Tilsner,et al.  Amino acid contents and transport in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) under different nitrogen conditions , 2005, Planta.

[18]  N. Aoki,et al.  Changes in nitrogen assimilation, metabolism, and growth in transgenic rice plants expressing a fungal NADP(H)-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (gdhA) , 2010, Planta.

[19]  I. Gut,et al.  Nested core collections maximizing genetic diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana. , 2004, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[20]  A. Fischer,et al.  Mapping of QTL associated with nitrogen storage and remobilization in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves. , 2003, Journal of experimental botany.

[21]  M. Yano,et al.  Are contents of Rubisco, soluble protein and nitrogen in flag leaves of rice controlled by the same genetics? , 2001, Journal of experimental botany.

[22]  S. Rothstein,et al.  Reappraisal of nitrogen use efficiency in rice overexpressing glutamine synthetase1. , 2011, Physiologia plantarum.

[23]  J. Z. Li,et al.  QTL consistency and meta-analysis for grain yield components in three generations in maize , 2011, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[24]  D. T. Britto,et al.  Bioengineering nitrogen acquisition in rice: can novel initiatives in rice genomics and physiology contribute to global food security? , 2004, BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

[25]  B. Ney,et al.  The challenge of improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants: towards a more central role for genetic variability and quantitative genetics within integrated approaches. , 2007, Journal of experimental botany.

[26]  Xia Li,et al.  Photosynthetic characteristics and tolerance to photo-oxidation of transgenic rice expressing C4 photosynthesis enzymes , 2004, Photosynthesis Research.

[27]  C. Masclaux-Daubresse,et al.  Natural variation of nitrate uptake and nitrogen use efficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana cultivated with limiting and ample nitrogen supply. , 2010, Journal of experimental botany.

[28]  R. Finger.  Evidence of slowing yield growth – the example of Swiss cereal yields , 2010 .

[29]  R. Sormani,et al.  The cytosolic glutamine synthetase GLN1;2 plays a role in the control of plant growth and ammonium homeostasis in Arabidopsis rosettes when nitrate supply is not limiting. , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[30]  J. Reif,et al.  Association mapping for quality traits in soft winter wheat , 2011, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[31]  Thomas Altmann,et al.  Variation of Enzyme Activities and Metabolite Levels in 24 Arabidopsis Accessions Growing in Carbon-Limited Conditions1[W] , 2006, Plant Physiology.

[32]  C. Ravel,et al.  A quantitative genetic study for elucidating the contribution of glutamine synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase and other nitrogen-related physiological traits to the agronomic performance of common wheat , 2009, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[33]  Dallas E. Kroon,et al.  Fine Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping of Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism Enzyme Activities and Seedling Biomass in the Maize IBM Mapping Population1[W][OA] , 2010, Plant Physiology.

[34]  B. Shelp,et al.  Nitrogen use efficiency: re-consideration of the bioengineering approach , 2010 .

[35]  H. Rennenberg,et al.  Natural variation in Arabidopsis adaptation to growth at low nitrogen conditions. , 2009, Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB.

[36]  Pierre Martre,et al.  Environmentally-induced changes in protein composition in developing grains of wheat are related to changes in total protein content. , 2003, Journal of experimental botany.

[37]  W. Frommer,et al.  The molecular physiology of ammonium uptake and retrieval. , 2000, Current opinion in plant biology.

[38]  G. Hernández,et al.  Transgenic tobacco plants that overexpress alfalfa NADH-glutamate synthase have higher carbon and nitrogen content. , 2001, Journal of experimental botany.

[39]  Malcolm J. Hawkesford,et al.  Nitrogen efficiency of wheat: Genotypic and environmental variation and prospects for improvement , 2010 .

[40]  Peter J. Bradbury,et al.  Genome-wide association study of leaf architecture in the maize nested association mapping population , 2011, Nature Genetics.

[41]  Y. Tsay,et al.  Nitrate transporters and peptide transporters , 2007, FEBS letters.

[42]  S. Rothstein,et al.  Biological functions of asparagine synthetase in plants , 2010 .

[43]  K. Edwards,et al.  Two Cytosolic Glutamine Synthetase Isoforms of Maize Are Specifically Involved in the Control of Grain Production[W][OA] , 2006, The Plant Cell Online.

[44]  M. Brancourt-Hulmel,et al.  Using genotype × nitrogen interaction variables to evaluate the QTL involved in wheat tolerance to nitrogen constraints , 2007, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[45]  Mayumi Tabuchi,et al.  Severe reduction in growth rate and grain filling of rice mutants lacking OsGS1;1, a cytosolic glutamine synthetase1;1. , 2005, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[46]  D. An,et al.  Mapping QTLs for nitrogen uptake in relation to the early growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) , 2006, Plant and Soil.

[47]  Sylvain Chaillou,et al.  Natural variation of Arabidopsis response to nitrogen availability. , 2012, Journal of experimental botany.

[48]  W. Ecke,et al.  Conditional QTL mapping of oil content in rapeseed with respect to protein content and traits related to plant development and grain yield , 2006, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[49]  J. Morot-Gaudry,et al.  Characterization of the sink/source transition in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) shoots in relation to nitrogen management and leaf senescence , 2000, Planta.

[50]  Richard J. Murphy,et al.  Global developments in the competition for land from biofuels , 2011 .

[51]  B. Hirel,et al.  An approach to the genetics of nitrogen use efficiency in maize. , 2004, Journal of experimental botany.

[52]  H. Agrama,et al.  Identification of quantitative trait loci for nitrogen use efficiency in maize , 2004, Molecular breeding.

[53]  Xingqi Guo,et al.  Journal of Experimental Botany , 1949, Nature.

[54]  Paul Christou,et al.  Transgenic strategies for the nutritional enhancement of plants. , 2007, Trends in plant science.

[55]  Guusje Bonnema,et al.  Comparative Methods for Association Studies: A Case Study on Metabolite Variation in a Brassica rapa Core Collection , 2011, PloS one.

[56]  U. Ludewig,et al.  Molecular mechanisms of ammonium transport and accumulation in plants , 2007, FEBS letters.

[57]  Alain Charcosset,et al.  MetaQTL: a package of new computational methods for the meta-analysis of QTL mapping experiments , 2007, BMC Bioinformatics.

[58]  T. Näsholm,et al.  Plant acquisition of organic nitrogen in boreal forests. , 2001, Physiologia plantarum.

[59]  Peter Delves,et al.  Encyclopedia of life sciences , 2009 .

[60]  M. Falque,et al.  Towards a better understanding of the genetic and physiological basis for nitrogen use efficiency in maize. , 2001, Plant physiology.

[61]  A. Gallais,et al.  Genetic variation for nitrogen use efficiency in a set of recombinant maize inbred lines. I. Agrophysiological results. , 2000 .

[62]  Alain Charcosset,et al.  Genetic Architecture of Flowering Time in Maize As Inferred From Quantitative Trait Loci Meta-analysis and Synteny Conservation With the Rice Genome , 2004, Genetics.

[63]  Hua Yan,et al.  QTLs for low nitrogen tolerance at seedling stage identified using a recombinant inbred line population derived from an elite rice hybrid , 2005, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[64]  How to Feed the World in 2050 , 2009 .

[65]  P. Martre,et al.  Genetic analysis of dry matter and nitrogen accumulation and protein composition in wheat kernels , 2005, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[66]  F. Diekmann.  Wheat , 2009, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology.

[67]  B. Kaiser,et al.  Functional Analysis of an Arabidopsis T-DNA “Knockout” of the High-Affinity NH4 + Transporter AtAMT1;11 , 2002, Plant Physiology.

[68]  Mark Stitt,et al.  Metabolic and signaling aspects underpinning the regulation of plant carbon nitrogen interactions. , 2010, Molecular plant.

[69]  J. Vogel,et al.  Molecular, morphological, and cytological analysis of diverse Brachypodium distachyon inbred lines. , 2009, Genome.

[70]  Raymond W. Lee,et al.  Altered Xylem-Phloem Transfer of Amino Acids Affects Metabolism and Leads to Increased Seed Yield and Oil Content in Arabidopsis[W] , 2010, Plant Cell.

[71]  J. Prioul,et al.  Modelling postsilking nitrogen fluxes in maize (Zea mays) using 15N-labelling field experiments. , 2006, The New phytologist.

[72]  F. Chardon,et al.  Plant Quantitative Traits , 2010 .

[73]  Florent Murat,et al.  Cross-genome map based dissection of a nitrogen use efficiency ortho-metaQTL in bread wheat unravels concerted cereal genome evolution. , 2011, The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology.

[74]  M. Yano,et al.  Identification and characterization of a QTL on chromosome 2 for cytosolic glutamine synthetase content and panicle number in rice , 2004, Theoretical and Applied Genetics.