Genetic Engineering Approaches to Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Since nitrogen (N) is the most essential nutrient for plants and a major limiting factor in plant productivity, doubling agricultural food production worldwide over the past four decades is associated with a 20-fold increase in N fertilizer use. As a consequence, use of N fertilizers in agriculture has already shown a number of detrimental environmental impacts. Therefore, the need to reduce N fertilizer pollution is strengthening the importance of improving the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of crop plants. The development of crop plants that take-up and assimilate N more efficiently would reduce the need for N fertilizers and positively influence the environment. Here, we discuss recent developments in the genetic manipulations of NUE in crop plants.