European Journal of Sustainable Agroecosystems

Background: Nitrogen (N) is a crucial nutrient for the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its exploration, transportation and recycling is regulated by various transcriptional programs reacting timely to the changing nitrogen conditions in soil. The last decade has seen the amazing increase in transcriptomic data regarding the mechanisms of nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, and potassium transport due to the implementation of RNA-seq technology and genome-wide expression profiling methods. 
Objective: This paper provides a comprehensive review of transcriptomic data on regulatory mechanisms of nutrient uptake in wheat under different nitrogen availability conditions, focusing on biosynthesis and regulation of nitrate (NPF, NRT2) and ammonium (AMT) transporters, as well as nitrogen-responsive transcription factors (NLP, NAC, bZIP, MYB, WRKY, WFZP) and their interconnections with the phosphorus and potassium sources. Please note that major finding of the review are to be announced. When analyzing transcriptome data, we find out that there is a dependence of the expression of NPF and NRT2 genes on the cultivar and transcription factors from the NLP and NAC families have a major role in their regulation. The AMT1 gene family should also have high-affinity transporter system. The existing gap in research is that due to variability in experimental design, nitrogen rate, growth stage or genome reference, results cannot be compared from one study to another. Thus, integrated approach should be utilized in the breeding of nitrogen efficient varieties.