Nitrogen (N) fertilization is essential for alleviating nutrient deficiencies of the world’s population by increasing rice production, one of the most important food crops of our time. Here we established an in vivo hydroponics rice seedling culture system to investigate the physio-biochemical and molecular responses of various rice genotypes to low nitrogen application. Yoshida’s nutrient solution (YS) was used to grow rice seedlings, and at three-week-old the seedlings manifested highly stable and reproducible symptoms, such as reduced shoot growth and length. Out of 12 genetically selected or tested genotypes, almost all (11 genotypes) showed varied degrees of growth reduction response to applied nitrogen (4 and 40 ppm N for treatment and control, respectively), but SR19663-B-B-34-3-3-3-1 showed similar growth as the control though its leaf width was smaller than the control. The leaves of a 11 representative low nitrogen-responsive genotype as BG90-2 were sampled for revealing the protein profiles between low and normal (control) nitrogen application by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) followed by staining of separated proteins with silver. Fifty differentially expressed silver stained protein spots were excised from 2-D gels and 41 proteins identified using high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS) using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-MS and nano electrospray ionization liquid chromatography tandem MS. These proteins could be assigned as major (energy metabolism, photosynthesis and oxidative stress) and minor functional categories, revealing many novel low N-responsive proteins, including those having energy/photosynthesis, and defense/stress, and iron homeostasis-related functions.

The seedlings of yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia Poeppig ＆ Endlicher), which were cuttings, plug seedling (PS), crown bud before sprouting (CBBS), crown bud after sprouting (CBAS), and divided seedling after budding (DSAB) were planted at 70~times 50 cm planting distance on ridge; that was interow spacingintrarow spacing, and about 28,500~pm 71 plants/ha. CBBS didn't need work and equipment to raise seedlings. PS and DSAB grew taller to 140.5 and 143.3cm, respectively, than others at 150 days after planting. In the changes of plant height, PS and DSAB showed taller than others during growth period, cuttings, CBBS, and CBAS grew rapidly in middle growth stage. Excepting main stem and petiole length, other characters were significant for seedling. Fresh weights were different among seedlings. Even though the yield of plants grown from CBAS and CBBS were lower with 34.7 and 36.4 ton/ha, respectively, than 3.6 ton/ha of DSAB; its yield index were over 95%, hence, those of plants grown from cutting and PS were lower with 73 and 87%, respectively. The ratio of tuberous roots over 200g to total tuberous roots per plant was the highest from DSAB. Most of tuberous roots were under 200g per tuberous root from cuttings. CBBS, CBAS, and DSAB are suitable to use seedlings for high yield of yacono. Yacon plant by DSAB much produced tuberous root of over 200g.