Crop nitrogen (N) utilization mechanism and strategies to improve N use efficiency

Acharya M (2018) Nitrogen and water use efficiency in conservation agriculture. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol 6:63–66 Allen S, Guo M, Lousart D, Rup M, Wang H (2016) Enhanced nitrate uptake and nitrate translocation by over-expressing maize functional low-affinity nitrate transporters in transgenic maize. US Patent 2016010101 A Andrews M, Raven JA, Lea PJ (2013) Do plants need nitrate? The mechanisms by which nitrogen form affects plants. Ann Appl Biol 163:174–199 Arai-Sanoh Y, Takai T, Yoshinaga S, Nakano H, Kojima M, Sakakibara H, Kondo M, Uga Y (2014) Deep rooting conferred by DEEPER ROOTING 1 enhances rice yield in paddy fields. Sci Rep 4:5563 Araya T, von Wiren N, Takahashi H (2014) CLE peptides regulate lateral root development in response to nitrogen nutritional status of plants. Plant Signal Behav 9:e29302 Balasubramanian V, Makarim AK, Karthamadtja S, Zaini Z, Nguyen NH, Tan PS, Heong K.L, Buresh RJ (2002) Integrated resource management in Asian rice farming for enhanced profitability, efficiency and environmental protection. In: Poster paper presented at the First International Rice Congress, Beijing, 15–19, September 2002, IRRI, LosBanos, Philippines Benini S, Rypniewski WR, Wilson KS, Mangani S, Ciurli S (2014) Molecular details of urease inhibition by boric acid: insights into the catalytic mechanism. J Am Chem Soc 126:3714–3715 Bertheloot J, Wu Q, Cournède PH, Andrieu B (2011) NEMA, a functional-structural model of nitrogen economy within wheat culms after flowering, II. Evaluation and sensitivity analysis. Ann Bot 108:1097–1109 Bi YM, Kant S, Clark J, Gidda S, Ming GF (2009) Increased nitrogen-use efficiency in transgenic rice plants over-expressing a nitrogen-responsive early nodulin gene identified from rice expression profiling. Plant Cell Environ 32:1749–1760 Bloom AJ (2015) The increasing importance of distinguishing among plant nitrogen sources. Curr Opin Plant Biol 25:10–16 Brauer EK, Rochon A, Bi YM, Bozzo GG, Rothstein SJ, Shelp BJ (2011) Reappraisal of nitrogen use efficiency in rice overexpressing glutamine synthetase1. Physiol Plant 14:361–372 Cai HM, Xiao JH, Zhang QF, Lian XM (2010) Co-suppressed glutamine synthetase2 gene modifies nitrogen metabolism and plant growth in rice. Chin Sci Bull 55:823–833 Cantarella H, Otto R, Soares JR, Silva AGB (2018) Agronomic efficiency of NBPT as a urease inhibitor: a review. J Adv Res 13:19–27 Cao HL, Yan TM, Qiao J, Zhu NY (2016) Comprative study on effect of dicyandiamide inhibiting nitrifcation in fluvo-aquic soil and lime concretion black soil. J Ecol Rural Environ 32:110–114 Carison J, Phillips C (2021) Soil nitrogen supply. IOP Publishing Soil Quality. http://soilquality.org.au/factsheets/soil-nitrogen-supply. Accessed 30 July 2022 Carvalho M, Lourenço E (2014) Conservation agriculture–a Portuguese case study. J Agron Crop Sci 200:317–324 Carvalho JFC, Madgwick PJ, Powers SJ, Keys AJ, Lea PJ (2011) An engineered pathway for glyoxylate metabolism in tobacco plants aimed to avoid the release of ammonia in photorespiration. BMC Biotechnol 11:111 Cassman KG, Dobermann A, Walters DT (2002) Agroecosystems, nitrogen-use efficiency, and nitrogen management. AMBIO J Hum Environ 31:132–140 Castro-Rodriguez V, Assaf-Casals I, Perez-Tienda J, Fan XR, Avila C, Miller A, Canovas FM (2016) Deciphering the molecular basis of ammonium uptake and transport in maritime pine. Plant Cell Environ 39:1669–1682 Chardon F, Barthelemy J, Daniel-Vedele F, Masclaux-Daubresse C (2010) Natural variation of nitrate uptake and nitrogen use efficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana cultivated with limiting and ample nitrogen supply. J Exp Bot 61:2293–2302 Chen X, Mao A, Zhang Y, Zhang L, Chang J, Gao H, Thompson ML (2017) Carbon and nitrogen forms in soil organic matter influenced by incorporated wheat and corn residues. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 63:377–387 Chen KE, Chen HY, Tseng CS, Tsay YF (2020) Improving nitrogen use efficiency by manipulating nitrate remobilization in plants. Nat Plants 6:1126–1135 Chiasson DM, Loughlin PC, Mazurkiewicz D, Fedorova EE, Okamoto M (2014) SoybeanSAT1 (Symbiotic AmmoniumTransporter1) encode sabHLH transcription factor involved in nodule growth and NH4+ transport. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:4814–4819 Chuan L, He P, Zhao T, Zheng H, Xu X (2016) Agronomic characteristics related to grain yield and nutrient use efficiency for wheat production in China. PLoS ONE 2016:e0162802 Cui M, Sun XC, Hu CX, Di HJ, Tan QL, Zhao CS (2011) Effective mitigation of nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions in intensive vegetable production systems using a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide. J Soils Sed 11:722–730 David LC, Dechorgnat J, Berquin P, Routaboul JM, Debeaujon I, Daniel-Vedele F, Ferrario-Méry S (2014) Proanthocyanidin oxidation of Arabidopsis seeds is altered in mutant of the high-affinity nitrate transporter NRT2.7. J Exp Bot 65:885–893 Dendooven L, Patino-Zuniga L, Verhulst N, Luna-Guido M, Marsch R, Govaerts B (2012) Global warming potential of agricultural systems with contrasting tillage and residue management in the central highlands of Mexico. Agri Eco Environ 152:50–58 Drechsler N, Zheng Y, Bohner A, Nobmann B, von Wirén N, Kunze R, Rausch C (2015) Nitrate-dependent control of shoot K homeostasis by the nitrate transporter1/peptide transporter family member NPF7.3/NRT1.5 and the stelar K+ outward rectifier SKOR in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 169:2832–2847 Fageria NK (2012) Role of soil organic matter in maintaining sustainability of cropping systems. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 43:2063–2113 Fan X, Jia L, Li Y, Smith SJ, Miller AJ, Shen Q (2007) Comparing nitrate storage and remobilization in two rice cultivars that differ in their nitrogen use efficiency. J Exp Bot 58:1729–1740 Fan X, Naz M, Fan X, Xuan W, Miller AJ, Xu X (2017) Plant nitrate transporters: from gene function to application. J Exp Bot 68:2463–2475 Feng H, Yan M, Fan X, Li B, Shen Q, Miller AJ, Xu G (2011) Spatial expression and regulation of rice high-affinity nitrate transporters by nitrogen and carbon status. J Exp Bot 62:2319–2332 Ferrario-Méry S, Valadier MH, Godfroy N, Miallier D, Hirel B, Foyer CH, Suzuki A (2002) Diurnal changes in ammonia assimilation in transformed tobacco plants expressing ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase mRNA in the antisense orientation. Plant Sci 112:524–530 Ferreira LM, de Souza VM, Tavares OCH, Zonta E, Santa-Catarina C, de Souza SR, Fernandes MS, Santos LA (2015) OsAMT1.3 expression alters rice ammonium uptake kinetics and root morphology. Plant Biotech Rep 9:221–229 Fowler D, Coyle M, Skiba U (2013) The global nitrogen cycle in the twenty-first century. Phil Trans R Soc b 368:20130164 Fraisier V, Gojon A, Till P, Daniel-Vedele F (2000) Constitutive expression of a putative high-affinity nitrate transporter in Nicotian aplumbaginifolia: evidence for post-transcriptional regulation by a reduced nitrogen source. Plant J 23:489–496 Fu Y, Yi H, Bao J, Gong J (2015) LeNRT2.3 functions in nitrate acquisition and long-distance transport in tomato. FEBS Lett 589:1072–1079 Gaufichon L, Marmagne A, Belcram K, Yoneyama T, Sakakibara Y, Hase T, Grandjean O, Clement G, Citerne S (2017) ASN1-encoded asparagine synthetase in floral organs contributes to nitrogen filling in Arabidopsis seeds. Plant J 91:371–393 Ghaly AE, Ramakrishnan VV (2015) Nitrogen sources and cycling in the ecosystem and its role in air, water and soil pollution: a critical review. J Pollut Eff Cont 3:136 Giehl RFH, Laginha AM, Duan F, Rentsch D, Yuan L, von Wiren N (2017) A critical role of AMT2;1 in root-to-shoot translocation of ammonium in Arabidopsis. Mol Plant 10:1449–1460 Gifford ML, Dean A, Gutierrez RA, Coruzzi GM, Birnbaum KD (2008) Cell-specific nitrogen responses mediate developmental plasticity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:803–808 Good GA, Johnson SJ, De Pauw M, Carroll RT, Savidov N (2007) Engineering nitrogen use efficiency with alanine aminotransferase. Can J Bot 85:252–262 Guan PZ, Wang RC, Nacry P et al (2014) Nitrate foraging by Arabidopsis roots is mediated by the transcription factor TCP20 through the systemic signaling pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111:15267–15272 Guan M, de Bang TC, Pedersen C, Schjoerring JK (2016) Cytosolic glutamine synthetase Gln1;2 is the main isozyme contributing to GS1 activity and can be upregulated to relieve ammonium toxicity. Plant Physiol 171:1921–1933 Guseman JM, Webb K, Srinivasan C, Dardick C (2017) DRO1 influences root system architecture in Arabidopsis and Prunus species. Plant J 89:1093–1105 Hammes UZ, Nielsen E, Honaas LA, Taylor CG, Schachtman DP (2006) AtCAT6, sink-tissue localized transporter for essential amino acids in Arabidopsis. Plant J 48:414–426 Hawkesford MJ (2014) Reducing the reliance on nitrogen fertilizer for wheat production. J Cereal Sci 59:276–283 He X, Qu B, Li W, Zhao X, Teng W, Ma W, Ren Y, Li B, Li Z, Tong Y (2015) The nitrate-inducible NAC transcription factor TaNAC2-5A controls nitrate response and increases wheat yield. Plant Physiol 169:1991–2005 Herrera JM, Rubio G, Häner L, Delgado JA, Lucho-Constantino CA, Islas-Valdez S, Pellet D (2016) Emerging and established technologies to increase nitrogen use efficiency of cereals. Agron 6:25 Hirel B, Tetu T, Lea PJ, Dubois F (2011) Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crops for sustainable agriculture. Sustainability 3:1452–1485 Hu B, Wang W, Ou S et al (2015) Variation in NRT1.1B contributes to nitrate-use divergence between rice subspecies. Nat Genet 47:834–838 Hu MY, Zhao XQ, Liu Q, Hong X, Zhang W, Zhang YJ, Sun LJ (2018) Transgenic expression of plastidic glutamine synthetase increases nitrogen uptake and yield in wheat. Plant Biotechnol J 16:1858–1867 Huang J, Gu MH, Xu SH, Yang WF, Jiang LG (2012) Effects of no tillage and rice-seedling casting with rice straw returning on content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of soil profiles. Sci Agric Sin 13:10 Jat RA, Suhas P, Wani KL, Sahrawat PS, Dhaka SR, Dhaka BL (2011) Recent approaches in nitrogen management for sustainable agricultural production and eco-afety. Arch Agron Soil Sci 58:1033–1060 Jia Z, Wiren NV (2020) Signaling pathways underlying nitrogen dependent changes in root system architecture: from model to crop species. J Exp Bot. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa033 Jia ZT, Giehl RFH, Meyer RC et al (2019) Natural variation of BSK3 tunes brassinosteroid signaling to regulate root foraging under low nitrogen. Nat Commun 10:2378 Jiang C, Lu D, Zu C, Shen J, Wang S, Guo Z, Wang H (2018) One-time root-zone N fertilization increases maize yield, NUE and reduces soil N losses in lime concretion black soil. Sci Rep 8:10258 Karki TB, Shrestha J (2015) Should we go for conservation agriculture in Nepal. Int J Glob Sci Res 2:271–276 Kashiri HO, Kumar D (2017) Coating of essential oils onto prilled urea retards its nitrification in soil. Arch Agron Soil Sci 63:96–105 Khatak SI, Baloch MS, Naveed K, Khan EA (2017) Improving farmer’s income and nitrogen use efficiency of dry land wheat through soil and foliar application of N-Fertilizer. Sarhad J Agric 33:344–349 Kiba T, Krapp A (2016) Plant nitrogen acquisition under low availability: regulation of uptake and root architecture. Plant Cell Physiol 57:707–714 Kiba T, Feria-Bourrellier AB, Lafouge F, Lezhneva L, Boutet-Mercey S, Orsel M, Brehaut V, Miller A, Daniel-Vedele F, Sakakibara H (2012) The Arabidopsis nitrate transporter NRT2.4 plays a double role in roots and shoots of nitrogen starved plants. Plant Cell 24:245–258 Killorn R, Gonzalez M, Rueber D (2011) Effect of slow release N fertilizer on corn yield. Iowa State University, Northern Research and Demonstration Farm, Manske 8 Komainda M, Taube F, Klub C, Herrmann A (2018) Effects of catch crops on silage maize (Zea mays L.): yield, nitrogen uptake efficiency and losses. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 110:51–69 Krall AS, Xu S, Graeber TG, Braas D, Christofk HR (2016) Asparagine promotes cancer cell proliferation through use as an amino acid exchange factor. Nat Commun 7:11457 Krapp A (2015) Plant nitrogen assimilation and its regulation: a complex puzzle with missing pieces. Curr Opin Plant Boil 25:115–122 Kurai T, Wakayama M, Abiko T, Yangisawa S, Aoki N, Ohsugi R (2011) Introduction of the ZmDof1 gene into rice enhances carbon and nitrogen assimilation under low-nitrogen conditions. Plant Biotechnol J 9:826–837 Laine M, Rutting T, Alakukku L, Palojarvi A, Strommer R (2018) Process rates of nitrogen cycle in uppermost topsoil after harvesting in no-tilled and ploughed agricultural clay soil. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 110:39–49 Lam HM, Wong P, Chan HK, Yam KM, Chen L, Chow CM, Coruzzi GM (2003) Overexpression of the ASN1 gene enhances nitrogen status in seeds of Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 132:926–935 Lea US, Hoopen F, Provan F, Kaiser WM, Meyer C (2004) Mutation of the regulatory phosphorylation site of tobacco nitrate reductase results in high nitrite excretion and NO emission from leaf and root tissue. Planta 219:59–65 Lee BR, Lee DG, Avice JC, Kim TH (2014) Characterization of vegetative storage protein (VSP) and low molecular proteins induced by water deficit in stolon of white clover. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 443:229–233 Lehmann T, Ratajczak L (2008) The pivotal role of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) in the mobilization of N and C from storage material to asparagine in germinating seeds of yellow lupine. J Plant Physiol 165(2):149–158 Lehmann S, Gumy C, Blatter E, Boeffel S, Fricke W, Rentsch D (2011) In planta function of compatible solute transporters of the AtProT family. J Exp Bot 62:787–796 Lemaitre T, Gaufichon L, Boutet-Mercey S, Christ A, Masclaux-Daubresse C (2008) Enzymatic and metabolic diagnostic of nitrogen deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana Wassileskija accession. Plant Cell Physiol 49:1056–1065 Leran S, Garg B, Boursiac Y, Corratgé-Faillie C, Brachet C, Tillard P (2015) AtNPF5.5, a nitrate transporter affecting nitrogen accumulation in Arabidopsis embryo. Sci Rep 5:7962 Lezhneva L, Kiba T, Feria-Bourrellier AB, Lafouge F, Boutet-Mercey S, Zoufan P, Sakakibara H, Daniel-Vedele F, Krapp A (2014) The Arabidopsis nitrate transporter NRT2.5 plays a role in nitrate acquisition and remobilization in nitrogen-starved plants. Plant J 80:230–241 Li W, Wang Y, Okamoto M, Crawford NM, Siddiqi MY, Glass AD (2007) Dissection of the AtNRT2.1:AtNRT2.2 induciblehigh-affinity nitrate transporter gene cluster. Plant Physiol 143:425–433 Li JY, Fu YL, Pike SM, Bao J, Tian W, Zhang Y, Chen CZ, Li J, Huang HM, Li LG et al (2010) The Arabidopsis nitrate transporter NRT1.8 functions in nitrate removal from the xylem sap and mediates cadmium tolerance. Plant Cell 22:1633–1646 Li PC, Chen FJ, Cai HG, Liu JC, Pan QC, Liu ZG, Gu RL, Mi GH, Zhang FS, Yuan LX (2015a) A genetic relationship between nitrogen use efficiency and seedling root traits in maize as revealed by QTL analysis. J Exp Bot 66:3175–3188 Li Y, Ouyang J, Wang YY, Hu R, Xia K, Duan J, Wang Y, Tsay YF, Zhang M (2015b) Disruption of the rice nitrate transporter OsNPF2.2 hinders root-to-shoot nitrate transport and vascular development. Sci Rep 5:9635 Li C, Tang Z, Wei J, Qu HY, Xie YJ, Xu GH (2016) The OsAMT1.1 gene functions in ammonium uptake and ammonium-potassium homeostasis over low and high ammonium concentration ranges. J Genet Genom 43:639–649 Li L, Kong F, Wu Y, Feng D, Jichao Y (2020) Increasing nitrogen accumulation and reducing nitrogen loss with N-efficient maize cultivars. Plant Prod Sci 23:260–269 Lin HC, Huber JA, Gerl G, Hulsbergen KJ (2016) Nitrogen balances and nitrogen-use efficiency of different organic and conventional farming systems. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 105:1–23 Liu R, Zhang H, Zhao P, Zhang Z, Liang W, Tian Z (2012) Mining of candidate maize genes for nitrogen use efficiency by integrating gene expression and QTL data. Plant Mol Biol Rep 30:297–308 Liu B, Ren T, Lu J, Li X, Cong R, Wu L (2017) On-farm trials of site-specific N management for maximum winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) yield. J Plant Nutr 40:1300–1311 Liu T, Ren T, White PJ, Cong R, Lu J (2018) Storage nitrogen coordinates leaf expansion and photosynthetic capacity in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). J Exp Bot 69:2995–3007 Luo Z, Liu H, Li W, Zhao Q, Dai J, Tian L, Dong H (2018) Effects of reduced nitrogen rate on cotton yield and nitrogen use efficiency as mediated by application mode or plant density. Field Crops Res 218:150–157 Lynch MJ, Mulvaney MJ, Hodges SC, Thompson TL, Thomason WE (2016) Decomposition, nitrogen and carbon mineralization from food and cover crop residues in the central plateau of Haiti. Springerplus 5:973 Ma WY, Li JJ, Qu BY, He X, Zhao XQ, Li B, Fu X, Tong Y (2014) Auxin biosynthetic gene TAR2 is involved in low nitrogen-mediated reprogramming of root architecture in Arabidopsis. Plant J 78:70–79 Maqsood MA, Awan UK, Aziz T, Arshad H, Ashraf N, Ali M (2016) Nitrogen management in calcareous soils: problems and solutions. Pak J Agric Sci 53:79–95 Marschner H (2012) Mineral nutrition of higher plants, 5th edn. Academic Press, London Martin A, Lee J, Kichey T, Gerentes D, Zivy M et al (2006) Two cytosolic glutamine synthetase isoforms of maize are specifically involved in the control of grain production. Plant Cell 18:3252–3274 Masclaux-Daubresse C, Reisdorf-Cren M, Pageau K et al (2006) Glutamine synthetase-glutamate synthase pathway and glutamate dehydrogenase play distinct roles in the sink-source nitrogen cycle in tobacco. Plant Physiol 140:444–456 Masclaux-Daubresse C, Daniel-Vedele F, Dechorgnat J, Chardon F, Gaufichon L, Suzuki A (2010) Nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilization in plants: challenges for sustainable and productive agriculture. Ann Bot 105:1141–1157 Masumoto C, Miyazawa SI, Ohkawa H, Fukuda T, Taniguchi Y, Murayama S, Kusano M, Saito K, Fukayama H, Miyao M (2010) Phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase intrinsically located in the chloroplast of rice plays a crucial role in ammonium assimilation. PNAS 107:5226–5231 Meena SK, Rakshit A, Meena VJ (2016) Effect of seed bio-priming and N doses under varied soil type on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under greenhouse conditions. Biocat Agri Biotechnol 6:68–75 Mehmood A, Niazi MBK, Hussain A, Beig B, Jahan Z, Zafar N, Zia M (2019) Slow-release urea fertilizer from sulfur, gypsum, and starch-coated formulations. J Plant Nutr 42:1218–1229 Meng S, Peng JS, He YN, Zhang B, Yi HY, Fu YL, Gong JM (2016) Arabidopsis NRT1.5 mediates the suppression of nitrate starvation induced leaf senescence by modulating foliar potassium level. Mol Plant 9:461–470 Mlodzinska E, Klobus G, Christensen MD, Fuglsang AT (2015) The plasma membrane Hþ-ATPase AHA2 contributes to the root architecture in response to different nitrogen supply. Physiol Plant 154:270–282 Moll RH, Kamprath EJ, Jackson WA (1982) Analysis and interpretation of factors which contribute to efficiency of nitrogen utilization. Agron J 74:562–564 Mounier E, Pervent M, Ljung K, Gojon A, Nacry P (2014) Auxinmediated nitrate signaling by NRT1.1 participates in the adaptive response of Arabidopsis root architecture to the spatial heterogeneity of nitrate availability. Plant Cell Environ 37:162–174 Myrach T, Zhu A, Witte C (2017) The assembly of the plant urease activation complex and the essential role of the urease accessory protein G (UreG) in delivery of nickel to urease. J Biol Chem 292:14556–14565 Nacry P, Bouguyon E, Gojon A (2013) Nitrogen acquisition by roots: physiological and developmental mechanisms ensuring plant adaptation to a fluctuating resource. Plant Soil 370:1–29 Neina D (2019) The role of soil pH in plant nutrition and soil remediation. Appl Environ Soil Sci 2009:1–9 Nie YX, Wang MC, Zhang W, Ni Z, Hashidoko Y, Shen WJ (2018) Ammonium nitrogen content is a dominant predictor of bacterial community composition in an acidic forest soil with exogenous nitrogen enrichment. Sci Total Environ 624:407–415 Nunes-Nesi A, Fernie AR, Stitt M (2010) Metabolic and signaling aspects underpinning the regulation of plant carbon nitrogen interactions. Mol Plant 3:973–996 O’Brien JA, Vega A, Bouguyon E, Krouk G, Gojon A, Coruzzi G, Gutiérrez RA (2016) Nitrate transport, sensing, and responses in plants. Mol Plant 9:837–856 Oelofse M, Markussen B, Knudsen L, Schelde K, Olesen JE, Jensen LS, Bruun S (2015) Do soil organic carbon levels affect potential yields and nitrogen use efficiency? An analysis of winter wheat and spring barley field trials. Eur J Agron 66:62–73 Ohyama T (2010) Nitrogen as a major essential element of plants. In: Ohyama T, Sueyoshi K (eds), Nitrogen assimilation in plants. Research Singpot, Kerala, pp. 1–18. Okumoto S, Pilot G (2011) Amino acid export in plants: a missing link in nitrogen cycling. Mol Plant 3:453–463 Olofsson M, Robertson EK, Edler L, Arniborg L, Whitehouse MJ, Ploug H (2019) Nitrate and ammonium fluxes to diatoms and dinoflagellates at a single cell level in mixed field communities in the sea. Sci Rep 9:1424 Orsel M, Filleur S, Fraisier V, Daniel-Vedele F (2002) Nitrate transport in plants: which gene and which control? J Exp Bot 53:825–833 Oyebiyi FB, Aula L, Omara P, Nambi E, Dhillon JS, Raun WR (2019) Maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield response to methods of nitrogen fertilization. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 50:2694–2700 Pal R, Mahaj G, Sardana V, Chahan B (2017) Impact of sowing date on yield, dry matter and nitrogen accumulation, and nitrogen translocation in dry-seeded rice in North West India. Field Crops Res 206:138–148 Pan X, Baquy M, Guan P et al (2020) Effect of soil acidification on the growth and nitrogen use efficiency of maize in Ultisols. J Soils Sediments 20:1435–1445 Papadopoulos A, Kalivas D, Hatzichristos T (2015) GIS modelling for site-specific nitrogen fertilization towards soil sustainability. Sustainability 7:6684–6705 Pasam RK, Sharma R, Malosetti M, vanEeuwijk FA, Haseneyer G, Kilian B (2012) Genome-wide association studies for agronomical traits in a worldwide spring barley collection. BMC Plant Biol 12:16 Pasley HR, Cairns JE, Camberato JJ et al (2019) Nitrogen fertilizer rate increases plant uptake and soil availability of essential nutrients in continuous maize production in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 115:373–389 Perchlik M, Tegeder M (2017) Improving plant nitrogen use efficiency through alteration of amino acid transport processes. Plant Physiol 175:235–247 Perchlik M, Foster J, Tegeder M (2014) Different and overlapping functions of Arabidopsis LHT6 and AAP1 transporters in root amino acid uptake. J Exp Bot 65:5193–5204 Pii Y, Tanja M, Nicola T, Roberto T, Stefano C, Carmine C (2015) Microbial interactions in the rhizosphere: beneficial influences of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria on nutrient acquisition process. A review. Biol Fert Soils 51:403–415 Pike S, Gao F, Kim MJ, Kim SH, Schachtman DP, Gassmann W (2014) Members of the NPF3 transporter subfamily encode pathogeninducible nitrate/nitrite transporters in grapevine and Arabidopsis. Plant Cell Physiol 55:162–170 Pinton R, Tomasi N, Zanin L (2016) Molecular and physiological interactions of urea and nitrate uptake in plants. Plant Signal Behav 11:1076603 Pires MV, da Cunha DA, deMatos CS, Costa MH (2015) Nitrogen-use efficiency, nitrous oxide emissions, and cereal production in Brazil: current trends and forecasts. PLoS ONE 10:0135234 Plett D, Holtham L, Baumann U et al (2016) Nitrogen assimilation system in maize is regulated by developmental and tissue-specific mechanisms. Plant Mol Biol 92:293–312 Poitout A, Crabos A, Petrik I et al (2018) Responses to systemic nitrogen signaling in Arabidopsis roots involve trans-Zeatin in shoots. Plant Cell 30:1243–1257 Potter C, Krauter C, Klooster S (2001) Statewide inventory estimates of ammonia emissions from fertilizer applications in California. In: Project report to California AIR Resources Board, Sacramento, CA. USA Pratelli R, Pilot G (2014) Regulation of amino acid metabolic enzymes and transporters in plants. J Exp Bot 65:5535–5556 Quraishi UM, Abrouk M, Murat F, Pont C, Foucrier S, Desmaizieres G (2011) Cross-genome map based dissection of a nitrogen use efficiency ortho-metaQTL in bread wheat unravels concerted cereal genome evolution. Plant J 65:745–756 Ranathunge K, El-Kereamy A, Gidda S, Bi YM, Rothstein SJ (2014) AMT1;1 transgenic rice plants with enhanced NH4+ permeability show superior growth and higher yield under optimal and suboptimal NH4+ conditions. J Exp Bot 65:965–979 Reddy MM, Ulaganathan K (2015) Nitrogen nutrition, its regulation and biotechnological approaches to improve crop productivity. Am J Plant Sci 6:2745–2798 Reis S, Bekunda M, Howard CM, Karanja N, Winiwarter W, Yan X, Bleeker A, Sutton M (2016) Synthesis and review: tackling the nitrogen management challenge: from global to local scales. Environ Res Lett 11:120205 Remans T, Nacry P, Pervent M, Girin T, Tillard P, Lepetit M, Gojon A (2006) A central role for the nitrate transporter NRT2.1 in the integrated morphological and physiological responses of the root system to nitrogen limitation in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 140:909–921 Rimski-Korsakov H, Rubio G, Lavado R (2012) Fate of the nitrogen from fertilizers in field-grown maize. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 93:253–263 Rochester IJ (2011) Assessing internal crop nitrogen use efficiency in high-yielding irrigated cotton. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 90:147–156 Rogato A, D’Apuzzo E, Barbulova A, Omrane S, Parlati A (2010) Characterization of a developmental root response caused by external ammonium supply in Lotus japonicus. Plant Physiol 154:784–795 Santiago JP, Tegeder M (2017) Implications of nitrogen phloem loading for carbon metabolism and transport during Arabidopsis development. J Integr Plant Biol 59:409–421 Schipanski ME, Barbercheck M, Douglas MR, Finney DM, Haider K, Kaye JP, Kemanian AR, Mortensen DA, White J (2014) A framework for evaluating ecosystem services provided by cover crops in agroecosystems. Agric Syst 125:2–22 Schofield RA, Bi YM, Kant S, Rothstein SJ (2009) Over-expression of STP13, a hexose transporter, improves plant growth and nitrogen use in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Plant Cell Environ 32:271–285 Shankar A, Gupta RK, Singh B (2020) Site-specific fertilizer nitrogen management in Bt cotton using chlorophyll meter. Exp Agric 56:397–406 Sharma LK, Bali SK (2018) A review of methods to improve nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture. Sustain 10:51 Singh A, Kumar A, Jaswal A, Singh M, Gaikwad DS (2018) Nutrient use efficiency concept and interventions forimproving nitrogen use efficiency. Plant Arch 18:1015–1023 Sonoda Y, Ikeda A, Saiki S, von Wirén N, Yamaya T, Yamaguchi J (2003) Distinct expression and function of three ammonium transporter genes (OsAMT1;1–1;3) in rice. Plant Cell Physiol 44:726–734 Sun S, Wang L, Mao H (2018) A G-protein pathway determines grain size in rice. Nat Commun 9:851 Suzuki A, Knaff DB (2005) Glutamate synthase: structural, mechanistic and regulatory properties, and role in the amino acid metabolism. Photosyn Res 83:191–217 Szulc P, Waligóra H, Michalski T, Rybus-Zając M, Olejarski P (2016) Efficiency of nitrogen fertilization based on the fertilizer application method and type of maize cultivar (Zea mays L.). Plant Soil Environ 62:135–142 Takahashi M, Sasaki Y, Morikawa H (2001) Nitrite reductase gene enrichment improves assimilation of NO2 in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 126:731–741 Tamura W, Kojima S, Toyokawa A, Watanabe H, Kobayashi M, Hayakawa T (2011) Disruption of a Novel NADH-Glutamate Synthase2 gene caused marked reduction in spikelet number of rice. Front Plant Sci 2:57 Tan QM, Zhang LZ, Grant J, Cooper P, Tegeder M (2010) Increased phloem transport of S-methylmethioninepositively affects sulfur and nitrogen metabolism and seed development in pea plants. Plant Physiol 154:1886–1896 Tang Z, Fan X, Li Q, Feng H, Miller AJ, Shen Q, Xu G (2012) Knockdown of a rice stelar nitrate transporter alters long-distance translocation but not root influx. Plant Physiol 160:2052–2063 Taochy C, Gaillard I, Ipotesi E et al (2015) The Arabidopsis root stele transporter NPF2.3 contributes to nitrate translocation to shoots under salt stress. The Plant J 83:466479 Taulemesse F, Le Gouis J, Gouache D, Gibon Y, Allard V (2015) Post flowering nitrate uptake in wheat is controlled by N status at flowering, with a putative major role of root nitrate transporter NRT2.1. PLoS ONE 10:e0120291 Taylor L, Nunes-Nesi A, Parsley K, Leiss A, Leach G (2010) Cytosolic pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase functions in nitrogen remobilization during leaf senescence and limits individual seed growth and nitrogen content. Plant J 62:641–652 Tegeder M (2014) Transporters involved in source to sink partitioning of amino acids and ureides: opportunities for crop improvement. J Exp Bot 65:1865–1878 Tegeder M, Masclaux-Daubresse C (2018) Source and sink mechanisms of nitrogen transport and use. New Phytol 217:35–53 Tegedera M, Rentsch D (2010) Uptake and partitioning of amino acids and peptides. Mol Plant 3:997–1011 Tian Z, Yu L, Zhihui L, Hua G, Jian C, Dong J, Weixing C, Tingbo D (2016) Genetic improvement of nitrogen uptake and utilization of winter wheat in the Yangtze River Basin of China. Field Crops Res 196:251–260 Tripathi R, Nayak AK, Shahid M, Lal B, Gautam P, Raja R, Mohanty S, Kumar A, Panda BB, Sahoo RN (2015) Delineation of soil management zones for a rice cultivated area in eastern India using fuzzy clustering. CATENA 133:128–136 Tyree M (2003) Plant hydraulics: the ascent of water. Nature 423:923 van Bel AJE (1984) Quantification of the xylem-to-phloem transfer of amino-acids by use of inulin [14C] carboxylic acid as xylem transport marker. Plant Sci Lett 35:81–85 Vanoni M, Dossena L, van den Heuvel R, Curti B (2005) Structure–function studies on the complex iron-sulfur flavoprotein glutamate synthase: the key enzyme of ammonia assimilation. Photosyn Res 83:219–238 Vidal EA, Araus V, Lu C, Parry G, Green PJ, Gutierrez RA (2010) Nitrate-responsive miR393/AFB3 regulatory module controls root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:4477–4482 Wang XL, Peng FT, Li MJ, Yang L, Li GJ (2012) Expression of a heterologous SnRK1 in tomato increases carbon assimilation, nitrogen uptake and modifies fruit development. J Plant Physiol 169:1173–1182 Widhalm JR, Gutensohn M, Yoo H, Adebesin F, Qian YC, Guo LY, Jaini R, Lynch JH, McCoy RM, Shreve JT (2015) Identification of a plastidial phenylalanine exporter that influences flux distribution through the phenylalanine biosynthetic network. Nat Commun 6:8142 Winter G, Todd CD, Trovato M, Forlani G, Funck D (2015) Physiological implications of arginine metabolism in plants. Front Plant Sci 6:534 Xian-Long P, Liu YY, Luo SG, Fan LC, Song TX, Guo YW (2007) Effects of site-specific nitrogen management on yield and dry matter accumulation of rice from cold areas of northeastern China. Agric Sci China 6:715–723 Xiaochuang C, Meiyan W, Chunquan Z et al (2020) Glutamate dehydrogenase mediated amino acid metabolism after ammonium uptake enhances rice growth under aeration condition. Plant Cell Rep 39:363–379 Xing Y, Jiang W, He X, Fiaz S, Ahmad S, Lei X, Wang W, Wang Y, Wang X (2019) A review of nitrogen translocation and nitrogen-use efficiency. J Plant Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.1656247 Xu ZZ, Yu ZY, Wang D (2006) Nitrogen translocation in wheat plants under soil water deficit. Plant Soil 280:291–303 Xu G, Fan X, Miller AJ (2012) Plant nitrogen assimilation and use efficiency. Ann Rev Plant Biol 63:153–182 Xu H, Curtis TY, Powers SJ, Raffan S, Gao R, Huang J, Heiner M, Gilbert D, Halford NG (2018) Genomic, biochemical and modelling analyses of asparagine synthetases from wheat. Front Plant Sci 8:2237 Yadav MR, Rakesh K, Parihar CM, Yadav RK, Jat SL, Ram H, Meena RK, Singh M, Birba AP, Verma U, Kumar A (2017) Strategies for improving nitrogen use efficiency: a review. Agric Rev 38:29–40 Yan M, Fan X, Feng H, Miller AJ, Shen Q, Xu G (2011) Rice OsNAR2.1 interacts with OsNRT2.1, OsNRT2.2 and OsNRT2.3a nitrate transporters to provide uptake over high and low concentration ranges. Plant Cell Environ 34:1360–1372 Yan X et al (2014) Fertilizer nitrogen recovery efficiencies in crop production systems of China with and without consideration of the residual effect of nitrogen. Environ Res Lett 9:095002 Yanagisawa S, Akiyama A, Kisaka H, Uchimiya H, Miwa T (2004) Metabolic engineering with Dof1 transcription factor in plants: improved nitrogen assimilation and growth under low-nitrogen conditions. Proc Natl Acad Sci 101:7833–7838 Yang X, Nian J, Xie Q, Feng J, Zhang F, Jing H, Zhang J, Dong G, Liang Y, Peng J, Wang J, Qian Q, Zuo J (2016) Rice ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase regulates nitrogen-carbon metabolomes and is genetically differentiated between japonica and indica subspecies. Mol Plant 9:1520–1534 Ye Q, Zhang H, Wei H, Zhang Y, Wang B, Xia K, Huo Z, Dai Q, Xu K (2007) Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on nitrogen use efficiency and yield of rice under different soil conditions. Front Agri China 1:30–36 Yong TW, Chen P, Dong Q, Du Q, Yang F, Wang XC, Liu WG, Yang WY (2018) Optimized nitrogen application methods to improve nitrogen use efficiency and nodule nitrogen fixation in a maize-soybean relay intercropping system. J Integr Agric 17:664–676 Yuan L, Loque D, Ye F, Frommer WB, vonWiren N (2007) Nitrogen-dependent post transcriptional regulation of the ammonium transporter AtAMT1;1. Plant Physiol 143:732–744 Zha Y, Wu XP, He XH, Zhang HM, Gong FF, Cai DX, Gao H (2014) Basic soil productivity of spring maize in black soil under long-term fertilization based on DSSAT model. J Integ Agri 13:577–587 Zhang FS, Cui ZL, Chen XP, Ju XT, Shen JB, Chen Q, Liu XJ, Zhang WF, Mi GH, Fan MS, Jiang RF (2012) Integrated nutrient management for food security and environmental quality in China. Adv Agron 116:1–40 Zhang LZ, Garneau MG, Majumdar R, Grant J, Tegeder M (2015a) Improvement of pea biomass and seed productivity by simultaneous increase of phloem and embryo loading with amino acids. Plant J 81:134–146 Zhang Y, Tan L, Zhu Z, Yuan L, Xie D, Sun C (2015b) TOND1 confers tolerance to nitrogen deficiency in rice. Plant J 81:367–376 Zhang Z, Xiong S, Wei Y (2017) The role of glutamine synthetase isozymes in enhancing nitrogen use efficiency of N-efficient winter wheat. Sci Rep 7:1000 Zhao X-Q, Nie X-L, Xiao XG (2013) Over-expression of a tobacco nitrate reductase gene in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) increases seed protein content and weight without augmenting nitrogen supplying. PLoS ONE 8:e74678 Zou N, Li BH, Chen H, Su Y, Kronzuker HJ, Xiong L, Baluska F, Shi W (2013) GSA-1/ARG1 protecteras root gravitropism in Arabidopsis under ammonium stress. New Phytol 200:97–111