Nitrogen - Essential Macronutrient and Signal Controlling Flowering Time

Nitrogen, as limiting nutrient for plant growth and crop yield, is a main component of fertilizers and heavily used in modern agriculture. Early reports from over-application of fertilizers in crop production have shown to repress the transition from vegetative to reproductive phase. For the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, there is evidence that low nitrogen conditions promote early flowering, while high nitrogen as well as nitrogen starvation conditions display the opposite effect. To gain a better understanding of how nitrogen affects the onset of flowering, we reviewed the existing literature for A. thaliana and carried out a meta-analysis on available transcriptomics data, seeking for potential genes and pathways involved in both nitrogen responses and flowering time control. With this strategy, we aimed at identifying potential gateways for integration of nitrogen signaling and potential regulators that might link the regulatory networks controlling nitrogen and flowering in A. thaliana. We found that photoperiodic pathway genes have high potential to be involved in nitrogen-dependent flowering.