Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The use of nitrogenous fertilizers in farming is a large input cost to farmers and has a profound negative impact on the environment. As the price of energy increases the cost of nitrogen fertilizer will also increase as its production involves a process that requires large amounts of energy. High input crops are dependent on the use of nitrogenous fertilizers; however, the majority of the nitrogen from these fertilizers (approximately 70%) is lost as runoff into surface and ground waters. Furthermore, nitrogenous fertilizers are responsible for the production of nitrous oxide (agricultural soils account for 70% of production), which contribute significantly to green house gases and the formation of acid rain. It is clearly valuable from both an economic and environmental point of view to decrease the use of nitrogenous fertilizers at current levels while maintaining crop yields. In the proposed work, we plan on studying nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants. Initially this trait will be studied using the model system rice, for which many genomic and genetic tools have been developed and then applying this knowledge to corn. The reason for this choice is that as a cereal, rice will be more relevant to corn than would be Arabidopsis (the common model plant species). While important pathways and regulatory genes are often conserved between species, it is more likely that positive results in rice can be transferred to maize. We will test any genes found to be advantageous in rice through partnership with our industrial partner Syngenta who will transform these into corn. We will then test these lines to see if they have improved nitrogen use efficiency. Ultimately this research will assist in reducing the economic cost to farmers and help reduce the impact of agricultural production on aquatic ecosystems (surface and ground water) and reduce the levels of nitrous oxide being released into the air.