Nitrate Effect on Rice Growth and Nitrogen Absorption and Assimilation at Different Growth Stages

The effect of nitrate （NO3^-） on rice （Oryza sativa L.） growth as well as N absorption and assimilation during different growth stages was examined using three typical rice cultivars. Dry weight, yield, N uptake, nitrate reductase activity （NRA） in leaves, and glutamine synthetase activity （GSA） in roots and leaves during their entire growth periods, as well as the kinetic parameters of ammonium （NH4^＋） uptake at the seedling stage, were measured with solution culture experiments. Results indicated that addition of NH4^＋-N and NO3^-N at a ratio of 75：25 （NH4^＋＋NO3^- treatment） when compared with that of NH4^＋-N alone （NH4^＋ treatment） increased the dry weight of ‘Nanguang＇ cultivar by 30% and ‘Yunjing 38＇ cultivar by 31%, and also increased their grain yield by 21% and 17%, respectively. For the four growth stages, the total N accumulation in plants increased by an average of 36% for ‘Nanguang＇ and 31% for ‘Yunjing 38＇, whereas the increasing effect of NO3^- in the ‘4007＇ cultivar was only found at the seedling stage, in the NH4^＋＋NO3^- treatment compared to the NH4^＋ treatment, NRA in the leaves increased by 2.09 folds, and GSA increased by 92% in the roots and 52% in the leaves of the three cultivars. NO3^- supply increased the maximum uptake rate （Vmax） in the ‘Nanguang＇ and ‘Yunjing 38＇ cultivars, reflecting that the NO3^- itself, not the increasing N concentration, increased the uptake rate of NH4^＋ by rice. There was no effect on the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant （Kin） of the three cultivars. Thus, some replacement of NH4^＋ with NO3^-could greatly improve the growth of rice plants, mainly on account of the increased uptake of NH4^＋ promoted by NO3^-, and future studies should focus on the molecular mechanism of the increased uptake of NH4^＋ by NO3^-.

Physiological and Molecular Analysis of Applied Nitrogen in Rice Genotypes

Ten genotypes of rice （Oryza sativa L.） were grown for 30 d in complete nutrient solution with 1 mmol/L （N-insufficient）,4 mmol/L （N-moderate） and 10 mmol/L （N-high） nitrogen levels,and nitrogen efficiency （NE） was analyzed.Growth performance,measured in terms of fresh weight,dry weight and lengths of root and shoot,was higher in N-efficient than in N-inefficient rice genotypes at low N level.Of these 10 genotypes,Suraksha was identified as the most N-efficient,while Vivek Dhan the most N-inefficient.To find out the physiological basis of this difference,the nitrate uptake rate of root and the activities of nitrate assimilatory enzymes in leaves of N-efficient and N-inefficient rice genotypes were studied.Uptake experiments revealed the presence of two separate nitrate transporter systems mediating high-and low-affinity nitrate uptake.Interestingly,the nitrate uptake by the roots of Suraksha is mediated by both high-and low-affinity nitrate transporter systems,while that of Vivek Dhan by only low-affinity nitrate transporter system.Study of the activities and expression levels of nitrate assimilatory enzymes in N-efficient and N-inefficient rice genotypes showed that nitrate reductase （NR） and glutamine synthetase （GS） play important roles in N assimilation under low-nitrogen conditions.