GIFS researchers at USask identify protein that helps tell plants ‘no’ when nitrogen is low

Research led by a post-doctoral fellow at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is shedding new light into how a protein helps plants acquire nitrogen and other important nutrients for growth.

Dr. Mutsutomo Tokizawa (PhD), a post-doctoral research fellow at GIFS, is the lead author of a new study with Dr. Leon Kochian (PhD), Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Food Security at USask and research group lead at GIFS. The researchers have identified a novel regulatory mechanism that helps plant roots conserve resources in nitrogen-deficient soils and use them for enhanced growth of the tap root, which can grow deeper into the soil in search of areas with higher concentrations of the nutrient.

The findings support long-term initiatives to develop new crop varieties with root-related traits that help agricultural producers optimize fertilizer applications.