Genetics of Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in Rice

Abstract

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is defined as the output of any plant per unit of nitrogen applied under a specified set of soil and climatic conditions. Due to the mobile nature of nitrogen, the N-loss from the soil is greater than any other element. Several agronomical management practices are being followed in rice to increase nitrogen use efficiency. But, these practices are not giving a permanent solution. Therefore, the development of nitrogen use efficient (NUE) rice varieties is inevitable for the sustainability of the environment and economic agricultural practices. Many genomic regions (QTLs) associated with NUE have been investigated in rice to improve the NUE by genome mapping. The future breeding programme needs to incorporate advanced molecular approaches like marker-assisted selection, genome editing, high-throughput sequencing, and genetic engineering to gain a deep understanding of the genetic mechanism and dissection of the suitable traits to develop an efficient rice genotype for an N-limited environment.