Nitrogen does double duty: feeding plants and easing stress
Zhang J, Liu Y, Zhang S, Zeng H, Ding W
Plant Signaling
The fertilizer you sprinkle on tomatoes doesn't just feed them, it also flips internal switches that help them shrug off a heat wave, a dry spell, or salty soil.
Nitrogen is best known as plant food, but this review shows it also acts like a messenger inside the plant, telling it how to handle tough conditions like drought, salt, cold, and acidic soil. Different forms of nitrogen trigger different internal alarm systems that connect to stress hormones and protective chemical pathways. Scientists hope that understanding these connections will let breeders create crops that need less fertilizer while still holding up under harsh weather.
Key Findings
Nitrogen signaling from NH4+ and NO3- forms crosstalks with ABA signaling, the SOS pathway, and ROS homeostasis to shape stress responses
Central regulators NIN-like proteins (NLPs), CBL-interacting protein kinase (CIPK), and TOR kinase link nitrogen sensing to stress tolerance and growth trade-offs
The review covers five stress types: acidic stress, aluminum toxicity, salinity, drought, and extreme temperatures, all modulated by nitrogen nutrition
chevron_right Technical Summary
Plants use nitrogen not just as food but as a signal that helps them cope with drought, salty soil, extreme temperatures, and toxic soil conditions. Understanding this dual role could help scientists breed crops that use fertilizer more efficiently while also surviving harsher growing conditions.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Plant nitrogen nutrition: enhancing plant resilience to abiotic stresses.
Nitrogen (N) is not only an essential macronutrient for plant growth and development but also functions as a pivotal signaling molecule that orchestrates adaptive responses to various abiotic stres...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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