Rice NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 4 is a master regulator of nitrogen use efficiency

Wu, J.; Zhang, Z.-S.; Xia, J.-Q.; Alfatih, A.; Song, Y.; Huang, Y.-J.; Wan, G.-Y.; Sun, L.-Q.; Tang, H.; Liu, Y.; Wang, S.-M.; Zhu, Q.-S.; Qin, P.; Wang, Y.-P.; Li, S.-G.; Mao, C.-Z.; Zhang, G.-Q.; Chu, C.-C.; Yu, L.-H.; Xiang, C.

doi:10.1101/2020.01.16.908558

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.01.16.908558

Rice NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 4 is a master regulator of nitrogen use efficiency

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is one of the key essential macronutrients that affects rice growth and yield. Inorganic N fertilizers are excessively used to boost yield and generate serious collateral environmental pollution. Therefore, improving crop N use efficiency (NUE) is highly desirable and has been a major endeavor in crop improvement. However, only a few regulators have been identified that can be used to improve NUE in rice to date. Here we show that the NIN-like protein OsNLP4 significantly improves the rice NUE and yield. Field trials consistently showed that loss-of-OsNLP4 dramatically reduced yield and NUE compared with wild type under different N regimes. In contrast, the OsNLP4 overexpression lines remarkably increased yield by 30% and NUE by 47% under moderate N level compared with wild type. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that OsNLP4 orchestrates the expression of a majority of known N uptake, assimilation and signaling genes by directly binding to the nitrate-responsive cis-element in their promoters to regulate their expression. Moreover, overexpression of OsNLP4 can recover the phenotype of Arabidopsis nlp7 mutant and enhance its biomass. Our results demonstrate that OsNLP4 is a master regulator of NUE in rice and sheds light on crop NUE improvement.

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Wu, J., Zhang, Z.-S., Xia, J.-Q., Alfatih, A., Song, Y., Huang, Y.-J., Wan, G.-Y., Sun, L.-Q., Tang, H., Liu, Y., Wang, S.-M., Zhu, Q.-S., Qin, P., Wang, Y.-P., Li, S.-G., Mao, C.-Z., Zhang, G.-Q., Chu, C.-C., Yu, L.-H., Xiang, C.. 2020-01-17. Rice NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 4 is a master regulator of nitrogen use efficiency. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.16.908558

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