BNI-enhanced Wheat Research Wins “Cozzarelli Prize” for 2021 from National Academy of Sciences and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The paper published as a joint research collaboration of JIRCAS with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), University of the Basque Country and Nihon University, received the 2021 Cozzarelli Prize (Best Paper Award) from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). 

This prize was awarded in recognition of the identification of a chromosomal region that regulates biological nitrogen inhibition (BNI) ability of wheat grass (Leymus racemosus), a wild relative of wheat, and the development of the world's first BNI-enhanced wheat through intergeneric crossing with a high-yielding wheat cultivar. This research result is expected to contribute to the prevention of nitrogen pollution that leads to water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining productivity with less nitrogen fertilizer.

PNAS is one of the most cited scientific journals in the world, publishing more than 3,000 papers per year on all aspects of science. A total of 3,476 papers in six fields, namely, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences, and Applied Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were published in 2021. The Cozzarelli Prize which was established in 2005 as the PNAS Paper of the Year Prize and was renamed in 2007 to honor late Editor-in-Chief Nicholas R. Cozzarelli, is awarded to one paper from each field reflecting scientific excellence and originality. The BNI research was awarded in the Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences category.

The awards ceremony will be held online on May 1, 2022 (EST), and a video introducing the results of this research will be available.

The BNI research has been positioned in the “Measures for achievement of Decarbonization and Resilience with Innovation (MeaDRI)” strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and was also selected as one of the “Top 10 Agricultural Technology News for 2021” announced by MAFF on December 23, 2021.　

National Academy of Sciences Press Release
http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/pnas-cozzarelli-2021…

Awardees : Guntur V. Subbarao (JIRCAS), Masahiro Kishii (CYMMIT), Adrian Bozal-Leorri, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, Xiang Gao, Maria Itria Ibba, Hannes Karwat, M. B. Gonzalez-Moro, Carmen Gonzalez-Murua, Tadashi Yoshihashi (JIRCAS), Satoshi Tobita (Nihon University), Victor Kommerell, Hans-Joachim Braun, and Masa Iwanaga (former JIRCAS President

Title : Enlisting wild grass genes to combat nitrification in wheat farming: A nature-based solution

JIRCAS President :  KOYAMA Osamu
Program Director :  HAYASHI Keiichi  
Principal Investigators :  SUBBARAO Guntur (Crop, Livestock and Environment Division) and YOSHIHASHI Tadashi (Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division)

Press Coordinator :  OMORI Keisuke (Head, Information and Public Relations Office)

E-mail : koho-jircas@ml.affrc.go.jp