Aug 2026· Frontiers in Plant Science· Vol 17· 0 citations· 96 references
Medicine
TL;DR
A four-tier closed-loop conceptual framework comprising signal perception, transport reprogramming, metabolic redistribution, and genetic redesign is developed that yields three testable predictions: the sequential activation of regulatory tiers; a quantitative relationship between Ca2+ signal amplitude and the extent of C–N metabolic redistribution; and salt-concentration thresholds that distinguish basal homeostatic buffering from full adaptive reprogramming.
Abstract
Soil salinization threatens global arable land and agricultural sustainability, severely reducing crop nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by disrupting root ammonium and nitrate fluxes, impairing nitrogen-assimilation enzymes, and disrupting carbon–nitrogen (C–N) balance. This review synthesizes recent advances in the coordination of salt-stress signaling and nitrogen homeostasis in plants. Two mechanistically distinct regulatory axes have recently been proposed. In one, a nitrate transporter acts as a dual sensor for nitrate and abscisic acid (ABA); in the other, SOS kinase-mediated phosphorylation of an ammonium transporter maintains ammonium uptake under Na+ stress. In addition, rapid post-translational regulatory mechanisms, including reversible protein phosphorylation and S-nitrosylation of nitrate reductase, can fine-tune nitrogen fluxes shortly after salt exposure. These findings inform a four-tier closed-loop conceptual framework comprising signal perception, transport reprogramming, metabolic redistribution, and genetic redesign. The framework yields three testable predictions: the sequential activation of regulatory tiers; a quantitative relationship between Ca2+ signal amplitude and the extent of C–N metabolic redistribution; and salt-concentration thresholds that distinguish basal homeostatic buffering from full adaptive reprogramming. Translation of this framework to field crops requires an integrated breeding pipeline that combines multi-environment quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, pan-genome-enabled genome-wide association studies, genomic selection for minor-effect alleles, and multiplex CRISPR editing coupled with stress-inducible synthetic promoters to pyramid favorable traits while minimizing yield penalties. A major unresolved challenge is to resolve the dynamic protein–metabolite networks that govern growth–defense trade-offs under combined salinity and nitrogen limitation. The integration of single-cell transcriptomics, isotope-based metabolic flux analysis, and machine-learning-assisted phenomics may help link genotypic variation to agronomic performance in salinized agroecosystems.
The present review identifies the molecular processes that regulate N responses in crops grown under elevated CO2, highlighting the differences between legume versus non‐legume and C3 versus C4 plant responses and providing details that can ensure mitigation against negative impacts and outline future perspectives on crop improvement.
R. Sreeharsha, D. Unnikrishnan, Shalini Mudalkar et al.· Physiologia Plantarum : An I...· 0 citations
Soil salinity is a major threat to crop productivity, sustainable agriculture, and global food security, with more than 833 million hectares of land affected worldwide. Salt stress restricts plant growth through osmotic stress, ion toxicity, oxidative damage, membrane disruption, reduced photosynthesis, and yield loss. Plants respond through coordinated regulatory networks that connect early stress perception with ion balance, osmotic adjustment, hormone signaling, transcript regulation, and protein modification. Recent advances have identified several sensory and signaling modules involved in salinity responses, including calcium signaling, receptor like kinases, FERONIA, OSCA, MOCA, annexins, and mechanosensitive channels that detect ionic, osmotic, and mechanical changes. Established pathways such as the SOS pathway and GABA shunt are included as established background mechanisms for sodium homeostasis and metabolic adjustment under saline conditions. Hormonal networks involving abscisic acid, ethylene, jasmonic acid, auxin, gibberellins, and brassinosteroids coordinate root architecture, stomatal control, antioxidant defense, growth restraint, and post-stress recovery. Emerging regulatory layers mediated by microRNAs, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and SUMOylation further fine tune transcript stability, protein activity, ion transport, redox balance, and stress resilience. A central challenge is the translational gap between model species and crops, since many mechanisms defined in Arabidopsis and rice still lack functional validation in major crop species and halophytes. Integrating conserved and species dependent mechanisms with crop centered validation will help convert molecular knowledge into breeding, genome editing, and management strategies for saline agriculture.
Muhammad Usman, Li Wang, Xiaojuan An et al.· Plant Science· 0 citations
A comprehensive theoretical framework linking physiological responses, molecular regulatory networks and practical field technologies is constructed, offering systematic theoretical references and technical guidance for salt-tolerant germplasm innovation and environmentally sustainable viticulture on saline soils.
Ting Zheng, Hongying Li, Ling-Zhu Wei et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
This review synthesizes recent advances in elucidating the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in Vitis vinifera to provide an integrative conceptual framework to support sustainable viticulture in water-limited environments.
This integrated framework identifies Si as a context-dependent modulator of plant–rhizosphere interactions and provides a mechanistic basis for developing precise and sustainable Si-based salinity-management strategies.
Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers have greatly increased crop yields, yet much of the applied nitrogen is lost from agroecosystems and contributes to environmental pollution and higher economic costs. Improving nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUpE) benefits from understanding how root system architecture (RSA) governs soil nitrogen capture. Although root traits have seldom been explicit breeding targets, selection for variation in above-ground nitrogen accumulation has also likely shaped differences in RSA. The Illinois Protein Strain Recombinant Inbred population, derived from more than a century of divergent selection for seed protein concentration, offers a powerful resource for dissecting RSA variation. Using multi-year field phenotyping of excavated root crowns and genome-wide association analysis, we identified a quantitative trait locus on chromosome 10 containing E1OGDH1, which encodes the E1 subunit of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH) complex. OGDH performs a key step in the tricarboxylic acid cycle that also modulates 2-oxoglutarate, an important entry point into nitrogen metabolism and a co-factor for enzymes involved in hormone and secondary product synthesis. Long-read sequencing of inbreds derived from the divergent IHP and ILP parental populations revealed promoter polymorphisms defining E1OGDH1 alleles and differed in E1OGDH1 expression in root tissue. Field experiments in IPSRI lines carrying IHP- or ILP-associated E1OGDH1 alleles showed differences in root architectural traits over two years. CRISPR-Cas9 knockout mutants confirmed a functional role for E1OGDH1 in whole-plant performance and nitrogen-responsive root development. Mutants were shorter, had reduced biomass, and exhibited altered architectural responses to soil nitrogen levels. Transcriptome analysis further showed that loss of E1OGDH1 altered basal and nitrogen-responsive expression of genes associated with root development and nitrogen uptake and metabolism. Together, these findings identify E1OGDH1 as a strong candidate quantitative regulator of maize RSA and nitrogen plasticity, suggesting that central carbon–nitrogen metabolic genes can contribute to root developmental responses relevant to NUpE.
Michelle S. Cho, Zhengbin Liu, Collin Luebbert et al.· bioRxiv· 0 citations
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