Expression data of Arabidopsis grown under low or sufficient nitrogen availability. Expression data of Arabidopsis grown under low or sufficient nitrogen availability

Nitrogen availability in the soil is a major determinant of crop yield. While the application of fertilizer can substantially increase the yield on poor soils, it also causes nitrate pollution of water resources and high costs for farmers. Increasing the nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants is a necessary step to implement low input agricultural systems. We exploited the genetic diversity present in the world-wide Arabidopsis thaliana population to study adaptive growth patterns and changes in gene expression associated with chronic low nitrate stress, with the aim to identify biomarkers associated with good plant performance under low nitrate availability. Transcription and epigenetic factors were identified as important players in the adaptatiion to limited nitrogen in a global gene expression analysis using the Affymetrix ATH1 chip. Overall design: Six lines with contrasting growth characteristics on low N were used for gene expression analysis, the accessions El-0 and Fei-0, and the mixed RILs KB006, NG064, NG087, SG063. For each line, root and shoot samples were taken from plants grown on 0.4 mM or 9 mM nitrate. Three biological replicates were used per organ and treatment, in total 72 samples. One replicate consisted of a pool of 30 plants harvested from three plates.