Root Growth Patterns in Relation to Nitrogen Availability
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Joann P. Roskoski', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Nitrogen is the mineral element that plants require in                  greatest quantity and its availability determines to a large                    extent the productivity of both natural and cultivated                          ecosystems.  The two mineral forms of nitrogen accessible to                    plants are ammonium and nitrate.  Little is known abut the                      relative importance of ammonium and nitrate as nitrogen sources                 under field conditions, in part, because of the methodological                  limitations.  Nitrogen has no long-lived radioisotope.  Use of                  the stable isotope 15N-the most common approach for measuring                   plant absorption from soils-has major disadvantages.                                    The proposed research shall develop new field methods for               studying plant nitrogen absorption utilizing methylamine, a                     chemical analog for ammonium, and chlorate, a chemical analog for               nitrate.  These analogs have several advantages.  They are not                  readily metabolized in the soil.  They can be used at low                       concentrations because they have long-lived, radioactive forms,                 14C-methylamine and 36Cl-chlorate.  Moreover, use of the                        radioactive forms can separate ammonium from nitrate absorption.                The objective is to design a procedure which uses only small                    amounts of radioactive compounds and ensures that virtually no                  radioactive material is left in the field.                                              Field experiments using these techniques will access                    seasonal and spatial changes in the availability of ammonium and                nitrate.  The distribution of tomato roots through the soil                     should indicate whether roots develop special branching patterns                to optimize the absorption of ammonium or nitrate.  Tomato                      mutants that have diminished abilities to absorb ammonium or                    nitrate or unusual root branching patterns have been isolated.                  Differences among the nitrogen accumulation in these mutants and                that in normal tomatoes should reflect the relative importance of               plant physiological mechanisms and root morphology on ammonium or               nitrate absorption from soils.                                                          This research brings together innovative techniques and                 unique genetic material to examine nitrogen acquisition under                   realistic conditions.  This information should stimulate the                    development of cultivars and agricultural practices that increase               the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer use.  Because the                         production of nitrogen fertilizer expends from 1/3 to 1/2 of the                total energy inputs in modern agriculture, increased nitrogen                   fertilizer efficiency would dramatically reduce the energy                      requirements of agriculture.
{'FirstName': 'Arnold', 'LastName': 'Bloom', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'J', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Arnold J Bloom', 'EmailAddress': 'ajbloom@ucdavis.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000200162', 'StartDate': '07/15/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of California-Davis', 'CityName': 'DAVIS', 'ZipCode': '956186153', 'PhoneNumber': '5307547700', 'StreetAddress': '1850 RESEARCH PARK DR STE 300', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'California', 'StateCode': 'CA', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '04', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'CA04', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'TX2DAGQPENZ5', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': 'NUDGYLBB4S99'}
{'Name': None, 'CityName': None, 'StateCode': None, 'ZipCode': None, 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': None, 'CountryName': None, 'StateName': None, 'CountryFlag': None, 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': None, 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': '""'}
{'Code': '112700', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8806585.xml'}