High density and limiting nitrogen response in rice

Physiological changes underlying high density stress were examined in Oryza sativa plants over the course of a life cycle by assessing differences in gene expression. Moreover, the nitrogen limitation was examined in parallel with high density stress to gain a better understanding of physiological responses specific to high density stress. RNA was extracted from 21 and 31 days old plants. The plants were grown under four conditions: sufficient nitrogen (10mM N) and low density (six plants per bin), limiting nitrogen (3mM N) and low density, sufficient nitrogen and high density (40 plants per bin), limiting nitrogen and high density. Three biological replicates were sampled from each growth condition.