Patent ID: 8742201

Claim:
A method of improving nitrogen utilization, in a plant, plant tissue or plant cell comprising: introducing and expressing in the plant, plant tissue, or plant cell an exogenous nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (i) the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 9; (ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 8; and (iii) a nucleotide sequence that specifically hybridizes to any or both of the complementary sequences of (i) or (ii) under stringent hybridization conditions comprising 7% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 0.5 M NaPO4, 1 mM EDTA at 50° C. with washing in 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C. and which encodes a GATA transcription factor, wherein the exogenous nucleic acid encodes a functional GATA transcription factor, wherein the exogenous nucleic acid is expressed at an elevated level as compared to a control plant, plant tissue, or plant cell of the same species and wherein expression of said exogenous nucleic acid encoding said functional GATA transcription factor results in improved nitrogen utilization in said plant, plant tissue, or plant cell as compared to a control plant, plant tissue, or plant cell of the same species.