Short project description

The soil nitrogen (N) pool that is available for plant nutrition consists of inorganic (e.g., nitrate and ammonium) and soluble organic (e.g., amino acid [AA]) forms. Our aim is to investigate the contribution of organic N to plant nutrition, as this aspect has not been extensively studied. We hypothesize that the cultivation of plants that can take up AA more efficiently will revolutionize crop production by substantially reducing N losses to the environment. These N losses occur as inorganic forms (emission of nitrogen oxides and ammonium emission and leaching of nitrate); therefore, cultivation of plants that can efficiently absorb AAs will reduce the conversion of soil AAs into inorganic N, thereby reducing N release into the environment. As a part of this project, you will have the chance to work with a variety of wheat genotypes and conduct experiments under carefully controlled conditions. Using state-of-the-art analytical and molecular techniques, such as metabolite and gene expression analysis, you will gain a mechanistic understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying plant response to different forms of organic nitrogen.