[Ming-Hsiun Hsieh] Early molecular events associated with nitrogen deficiency in rice seedling roots

Fig. 1 Phenotypes of 10-day-old rice seedlings grown in hydroponic solutions with (+N) or without (-N) nitrogen. 

Nitrogen (N) deficiency is one of the most common problems in rice. The symptoms of N deficiency are well documented (Fig. 1), but the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown in rice. Dr. Ming-Hsiun Hsieh’s laboratory reported that levels of glutamine rapidly decreased within 15 min of -N treatment, indicating that part of the N-deficient signals could be mediated by glutamine (Hsieh et al., 2018, Sci Rep 8: 12207). Transcriptome analysis revealed that genes involved in metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction (e.g. abscisic acid, auxin, and jasmonate), transporter activity, and oxidative stress responses were rapidly regulated by -N. Contributors of this work include: Ping-Han Hsieh, Chia-Cheng Kan, Hsin-Yu Wu and Hsiu-Chun Yang. (http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30632-1)