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Genetic modification of rice for efficient nitrogen utilization

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Abstract

Rice is a major crop worldwide, providing staple nourishment to half the global population. Improvements in rice productivity are essential to meet the needs of the growing global population. Rice productivity relies heavily on nitrogen (N) fertilization as N is crucial for rice growth and development and is the major limiting factor in most agricultural practices. However, excessive reliance on N fertilizer has adverse environmental impacts and increases production costs. Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an urgent challenge in sustainable agriculture. This review summarizes the current understanding of N metabolism in rice and outlines the genetic modification of genes associated with N uptake and transport, assimilation, remobilization, and regulation to improve NUE. Recent research into NUE efficiency will facilitate the practical development of novel rice lines with increased productivity alongside low inputs of N fertilization.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R013-D1) from the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning.

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  1. Center for Plant Aging Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daegu, 42988, Republic of Korea

    Sichul Lee, Joonheum Park & Yehyun Yim

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SL wrote the manuscript with JP and YY. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Lee, S., Park, J. & Yim, Y. Genetic modification of rice for efficient nitrogen utilization. Plant Biotechnol Rep 15, 573–583 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11816-021-00705-1

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