Abstract:

Glutamine synthetase is a key enzyme involved in the nitrogen assimilation and recycling in plants. The present paper summarized the distribution characters of glutamine synthetase in different cells, tissues, and organs. The advances on molecular biological research were reviewed on the numbers of gene family，gene structure, and organ-specific or development stage-specific expression control in different regulation level, as well as the applications on the genetic engineering through glutamine synthetase gene regulation to enhance plant growth and stress endurance. The prospects were presented on the improvement of nitrogen utility efficiency in crops and plant nitrogen status diagnosis on the basis of glutamine synthetase gene regulation.