AOBPreview originally published online on May 30, 2006
Annals of Botany 2006 98(3):473-482; doi:10.1093/aob/mcl116
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INVITED REVIEW |
Plant Nutriomics in China: An Overview
1 Laboratory of Plant Nutritional Genetics, Root Biology Center, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China, 2 State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, China, 3 State Key Laboratory of Plant Cell and Chromosome Engineering, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China, 4 College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China and 5 National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
* For correspondence. E-mail qifazh{at}mail.hzau.edu.cn
Received: 30 December 2005 Returned for revision: 6 February 2006 Accepted: 8 March 2006 Published electronically: 30 May 2006
Background Population and environmental pressure have imposed a great challenge on agriculture in China to explore innovative and effective solutions to its pressing plant nutritional problems. Plant nutriomics is a new frontier in plant biology that can provide innovative solutions for improving plant nutrient efficiency, thus increasing crop productivity through genetic and molecular approaches.
Scope This review summarizes current efforts and progress in plant nutriomic research in China with examples from several case studies. It also points out potential obstacles and depicts future perspectives in this emerging frontier of plant nutrition.
Conclusions Although plant nutriomics is still at a conceptual stage, substantial efforts are being made in China aimed at increasing plant nutrient efficiency through a nationwide, co-ordinated project on plant nutriomics. Future studies involving both national and international collaborations are needed to develop nutrient-efficient, stress-tolerant and high-quality crop varieties for both China and elsewhere.
Key words: China, genomics, metabolomics, nutrient efficiency, plant nutriomics, proteomics, transcriptomics