Biomolecules (Dec 2023)

The Role of Glutamine Synthetase (GS) and Glutamate Synthase (GOGAT) in the Improvement of Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Cereals

  • Stefania Fortunato,
  • Domenica Nigro,
  • Cecilia Lasorella,
  • Ilaria Marcotuli,
  • Agata Gadaleta,
  • Maria Concetta de Pinto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13121771
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 12
p. 1771

Abstract

Read online

Cereals are the most broadly produced crops and represent the primary source of food worldwide. Nitrogen (N) is a critical mineral nutrient for plant growth and high yield, and the quality of cereal crops greatly depends on a suitable N supply. In the last decades, a massive use of N fertilizers has been achieved in the desire to have high yields of cereal crops, leading to damaging effects for the environment, ecosystems, and human health. To ensure agricultural sustainability and the required food source, many attempts have been made towards developing cereal crops with a more effective nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). NUE depends on N uptake, utilization, and lastly, combining the capability to assimilate N into carbon skeletons and remobilize the N assimilated. The glutamine synthetase (GS)/glutamate synthase (GOGAT) cycle represents a crucial metabolic step of N assimilation, regulating crop yield. In this review, the physiological and genetic studies on GS and GOGAT of the main cereal crops will be examined, giving emphasis on their implications in NUE.

Keywords