Improved nitrogen assimilation and growth under low-nitrogen conditions by overexpression of the Dof1 transcription factor in plants

摘要

We investigated effects of expressing Dof1, a maize transcription factor involved in gene expression for organic acid metabolism, on nitrogen assimilation in transgenic Arabidopsis and potato plants. The glutamine level and the nitrogen content in the transgenic plants were evidently higher than those in control plants. Importantly, the Dof1 transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed better growth under low-nitrogen conditions, compared to the control plants. These suggest that the nitrogen utilization efficiency can be modulated by manipulation of the pathway providing carbon skeletons for nitrogen assimilation. These also suggest that transcription factors are powerful tools for metabolic engineering.