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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414881
Research Project: Championing Improvement of Sorghum and Other Agriculturally Important Species through Data Stewardship and Functional Dissection of Complex Traits

Location: Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research

Title: Elucidating Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Crops through Comparative Analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks in Maize and Sorghum

Author
item BRAYNEN, JANEEN - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item ZHANG, LIFANG - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item KUMARI, SUNITA - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item OLSON, ANDREW - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item KUMAR, VIVEK - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item REGULSKI, MICHAEL - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item LISERON-MONFILS, CHRISTOPHE - National Research Council - Canada
item GAUDINIER, ALLISON - University Of California Berkeley
item FRANK, MARY - Corteva Agriscience
item Ware, Doreen
item SHEN, BO - Corteva Agriscience
item Klein, Robert - Bob
item Rooney, William
item Boerman, Nicholas
item KOCHIAN, LEON - University Of Saskatchewan
item BRADY, SIOBHAN - University Of California, Davis

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) plays a critical role in environmental sustainability and plant nutrient utilization. Employing Yeast One-Hybrid (Y1H) assays, we constructed Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) to study the underlying mechanisms of NUE in both dicot and monocot species. A GRN for maize, encompassing 1625 Protein-DNA Interactions (PDIs) was developed and compared with a published Arabidopsis GRN. This comparative analysis shed light on conserved interactions within the nitrate assimilation pathway, with a notable divergence in transporter genes. Significantly, the bZIP transcription factor (TF) family, particularly bZIP18/bZIP30, was identified as a major regulatory influence within the maize GRN, influencing nitrogen assimilation and carbon metabolism. We used RNA-seq to capture temporal expression patterns in maize and sorghum that were cultivated under controlled hydroponic conditions and subjected to varying nitrate levels to simulate limitation and recovery scenarios. This approach unveiled species-specific and temporal variations in differentially expressed genes, particularly within TF families like bZIP and NIN-LIKE PROTEIN in both crops. Further extending the study to address excess nitrogen's impact on animal feed, we investigated genotypic differences in nitrate accumulation in sorghum. Utilizing four distinct male sterile lines and the reference genome BTx623, experiments were conducted in both hydroponic and sand-based systems. The observed gene expression profiles under various nitrate conditions pointed to substantial differences, especially in nitrate reduction and photosynthesis pathways. The study highlights how understanding genomic frameworks for plant nitrogen adaptability can identify genotypes with improved NUE, essential for sustainable agriculture and benefiting crop management and environmental health.This project was funded by the USDA-ARS award # 8062-21000-044-000D.