TaNRT2.1-6B is a dual-affinity nitrate transporter contributing to nitrogen uptake in bread wheat under both nitrogen deficiency and sufficiency
Mengjiao Li,
Tian Wang,
Hui Zhang,
Shuo Liu,
Wenhu Li,
Salah F. Abou Elwafa,
Hui Tian
Affiliations
Mengjiao Li
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Tian Wang
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Hui Zhang
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Shuo Liu
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Wenhu Li
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
Salah F. Abou Elwafa
Agronomy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt
Hui Tian
Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Agri-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China; Corresponding author.
Multiple nitrate transporter (NRT) genes exist in the genome of bread wheat, and it is of great importance to identify the elite NRT genes for N-efficient wheat cultivar breeding. A candidate gene association study (CGAS) of six N use efficiency (NUE) related traits (grain N concentration (GNC), straw N concentration (SNC), grain yield (GY), grain N accumulation (GNA), shoot total N accumulation (STN) and N harvest index (NHI)) was performed based on SNPs in 46 NRT2 genes using a panel composed of 286 wheat cultivars. CGAS identified TaNRT2.1-6B as an elite NRT gene that is significantly associated with four (NHI, SNC, GNA and GY) of the six NUE-related traits simultaneously. TaNRT2.1-6B is located on the plasma membrane and acts as a dual-affinity NRT. The overexpression of TaNRT2.1-6B increased the N influx and root growth of wheat, whereas gene silence lines resulted in the opposite effects. The overexpression of TaNRT2.1-6B also improved GY and N accumulation of wheat under either limited or sufficient N conditions. The data provide the TaNRT2.1-6B gene and the two associated SNP markers as promising powerful tools for breeding wheat cultivars with high N uptake ability and NUE.
