Nitrate Uptake and Use Efficiency: Pros and Cons of Chloride Interference in the Vegetable Crops

Abstract

Over the past five decades, nitrogen (N) fertilization has been an essential tool for boosting crop productivity in agricultural systems. To avoid N pollution while preserving the crop yields and profit margins for farmers, the scientific community is searching for eco-sustainable strategies aimed at increasing plants’ nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The present article provides a refined definition of the NUE based on the two important physiological factors (N-uptake and N-utilization efficiency). The diverse molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying the processes of N assimilation, translocation, transport, accumulation, and reallocation are revisited and critically discussed. The review concludes by examining the N uptake and NUE in tandem with chloride stress and eustress, the latter being a new approach toward enhancing productivity and functional quality of the horticultural crops, particularly facilitated by soilless cultivation.

Morpho-Anatomical, Physiological, and Mineral Composition Responses Induced by a Vegetal-Based Biostimulant at Three Rates of Foliar Application in Greenhouse Lettuce

“…This was likely related to the higher ability of plants grown at lower PH dose to uptake nitrate and calcium. It is likely that PH at a lower dose could re-shape the root system architecture (RSA), even improving the root foraging ability of plants and thus increasing the NO 3 – absorption and use efficiency [ 58 ]. Moreover, the increased root uptake ability also increased the content of calcium, that, at higher concentrations in the nucleocytoplasmic compartment of root cells, might play a role in further signaling the improvement of primary root development and inducing meristem development and auxin homeostasis [ 59 ].…”

Nitrogen assimilation and photorespiration become more efficient under chloride nutrition as a beneficial macronutrient

“…This effect has been interpreted as an antagonistic interaction that reduces the plants’ ability to take up from the soil, given that Cl − and molecules share transmembrane transport mechanisms with often ambiguous selectivity ( Colmenero-Flores et al., 2019 ). Then, it has traditionally been believed that Cl − alters N nutrition by restricting transport and accumulation at different levels, dealing to a reduction of NUE in plants ( Teakle and Tyerman, 2010 ; Li et al., 2017 ; Carillo and Rouphael, 2022 ). For this reason, and because of the excessive Cl − accumulation in sensitive crops under salinity conditions, Cl − has traditionally been considered detrimental for agriculture.…”

“…Several studies have reported the antagonism between Cl − and homeostasis under both high ( Buwalda and Smith, 1991 ; Cerezo et al., 1997 ; Xu et al., 2000 ) and mild Cl − salinity (also known as eustress; Colla et al., 2018 ; Carillo and Rouphael, 2022 ). It was not clear however whether the Cl − -dependent decrease in leaf content was a consequence of the antagonism exerted by Cl − on uptake and transport, or an effect on allocation and assimilation.…”

“…In aerobic soils, nitrate ( ) is the main source of N and also a limiting nutrient for adequate plant growth and development ( Wang et al., 2012 ; Krapp et al., 2014 ; Weber & Burow, 2018 ). is taken up by roots through fine-tuned high affinity (HATS) and low affinity (LATS) transport systems (e.g., plasma membrane proteins from the NRT2 and NRT1 gene families, respectively ( Carillo and Rouphael, 2022 ). Subsequently, can be directly assimilated in root tissues or transported through xylem vessels to aerial organs to be further assimilated or stored in the big vacuoles of the photosynthetic tissues ( Crawford, 1995 ).…”

Molecular identification and physiological functional analysis of NtNRT1.1B that mediated nitrate long-distance transport and improved plant growth when overexpressed in tobacco

“…However, only certain members of the NRT1/NPF and NRT2 families have been confirmed to be responsible for NO − 3 uptake from soils/external media (Nacry et al, 2013;Kant, 2018). These NO − 3 transporters are topologically predicted to span a biological membrane 12 times (Leŕan et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2018) to facilitate the proton-coupled active movement of NO − 3 (Chen et al, 2008), and most of the nitrate transporters (NRTs) characterized so far are either a high-affinity transport system (HATS; working normally at a concentration of less than 0.5 mM) or a low-affinity transport system (LATS; where NO − 3 availability is > 0.5 mM) (Wang et al, 2012;O'Brien et al, 2016;Kant, 2018;Carillo and Rouphael, 2022).…”