Overexpression of Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Gene OsNPF7.6 Increases Rice Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency.

Overuse of nitrogen fertilizer in fields has raised production costs, and caused environmental problems. Improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rice is essential for sustainable agriculture. Here we report the cloning, characterization and roles for rice of , a member of the nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter family (NPF). The OsNPF7.6 protein is located in the plasma membrane, expressed in each tissue at all stages and is significantly regulated by nitrate in rice. Our study shows that the overexpression of can increase the nitrate uptake rate of rice. Additionally, field experiments showed that overexpression increased the total tiller number per plant and the grain weight per panicle, thereby improving grain yield and agronomic NUE in rice. Thus, can be applied to be a novel target gene for breeding rice varieties with high NUE, and provide a reference for breeding higher yielding rice.