Arabidopsis ecotype Ct-1, with its altered nitrate sensing ability, exhibits enhanced growth under low nitrate conditions in comparison to Col-0.

To address the urgent need for sustainable solutions to the increased use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture, it is imperative to acquire an in-depth comprehension of the intricate interplay between plants and nitrogen. In this context, our research aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanism behind NO ₃ ^- sensing/signaling in plants, which can enhance nitrogen utilization efficiency. Previous reports have revealed that the density and quantity of root hairs exhibit responsive behavior to varying levels of NO ₃ ^- , while the precise molecular mechanisms governing these changes remain elusive. To further investigate this phenomenon, we specifically selected the Ct-1 ecotype, which manifested a greater abundance of root hairs compared to the Col-0 ecotype under conditions of low NO ₃ ^- . Our investigations unveiled that the dissimilarities in the amino acid sequence of NRT1.1, a transceptor responsible for regulating nitrate signaling and transport, accounted for the observed variation in root hair numbers. These results suggest that NRT1.1 represents a promising target for gene editing technology, offering potential applications in enhancing the efficiency of nitrogen utilization in agricultural crops.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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