Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Peptide-derived Method to Transport Genes and Proteins Across Cellular and Organellar Barriers in Plants
Published on: December 16, 2016
The Rice Peptide Transporter OsNPF7.3 Is Induced by Organic Nitrogen, and Contributes to Nitrogen Allocation and
Zhongming Fang1,2, Genxiang Bai1, Weiting Huang1
1Center of Applied Biotechnology, Wuhan Institute of BioengineeringWuhan, China.
Abstract:
Nitrogen use efficiency is important for the development of sustainable agriculture. Plants have different transporters to facilitate nitrogen uptake and internal distribution. This study demonstrates that the peptide transporter OsNPF7.3 enhances nitrogen allocation and increases grain yield in rice. OsNPF7.3 is a member of the nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter family (NPF) and is localized in the vacuolar membrane. Its expression is higher in the lateral roots and stems. Its transcripts concentrate in the vascular bundle and significantly regulated by organic nitrogen sources. The RNAi lines of OsNPF7.3 affect plant growth and cause amino acids to accumulate in leaf sheaths and decrease in the leaf blades. At later stages of reproductive growth, nitrogen degradation accelerates in the leaves of plants over-expressing OsNPF7.3 and the nitrogen is translocated to grains. The tiller numbers, panicles per plant, filled grain numbers per panicle, and grain nitrogen content of the OsNPF7.3 over-expressing plant were more than that of wide type. The elevated gene expression in OsNPF7.3 could enhance nitrogen utilization efficiency in rice paddy.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Key Elements for Plant Nutrition
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Nuclear Protein Sorting
Proteins targeted to the nucleus carry nuclear localization signals or NLS recognized by import receptors in the cytosol. Similarly, proteins with nuclear export signals are recognized by export receptors. Import and export receptors are...
Protein Transport to the Inner Chloroplast Membrane
Protein Transport to the Outer Chloroplast Membrane
Two models describe the mechanism of precursor recognition and entry across the outer membrane through the TOC complex. Model 1 suggests the newly synthesized precursor binds to the TOC receptor 159 and forms a complex.
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting

