NRG2 family members of Arabidopsis and maize regulate nitrate signalling and promote nitrogen use efficiency

Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for plant growth, and most plants absorb it as nitrate. AtNRG2 has been reported to play an important role in nitrate regulation. In this study, we investigated the functions of AtNRG2 family members of Arabidopsis thaliana and maize in nitrate signalling and metabolism. Our results showed that both AtNRG2.10 and AtNRG2.15 regulated nitrate signalling and metabolism. Overexpression of AtNRG2.11 (AtNRG2) could promote plant growth and improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). In addition, the maize genome harbors 23 ZmNRG2 members. We detected the expression of these genes treated with nitrate and the expression of four genes was strongly induced with ZmNRG2.7 having the highest levels. Overexpression of ZmNRG2.7 in the atnrg2 mutant could restore the defects of atnrg2, suggesting that ZmNRG2.7 is involved in nitrate signalling and metabolism. Moreover, the overexpression lines of ZmNRG2.7 showed increased biomass and NUE. These findings demonstrate that at least a part of NRG2 family genes in Arabidopsis and maize regulate nitrate signalling and provide a molecular basis for improving the NUE of crops.