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Does energy cost constitute the primary cause of ammonium toxicity in plants?

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Abstract

Nitrate (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) are the main nitrogen (N) sources and key determinants for plant growth and development. In recent decades, NH4+, which is a double-sided N compound, has attracted considerable amounts of attention from researchers. Elucidating the mechanisms of NH4+ toxicity and exploring the means to overcome this toxicity are necessary to improve agricultural sustainability. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge concerning the energy consumption and production underlying NH4+ metabolism and toxicity in plants, such as N uptake; assimilation; cellular pH homeostasis; and functions of the plasma membrane (PM), vacuolar H+-ATPase and H+-pyrophosphatase (H+-PPase). We also discuss whether the overconsumption of energy is the primary cause of NH4+ toxicity or constitutes a fundamental strategy for plants to adapt to high-NH4+ stress. In addition, the effects of regulators on energy production and consumption and other physiological processes are listed for evaluating the possibility of high energy costs associated with NH4+ toxicity. This review is helpful for exploring the tolerance mechanisms and for developing NH4+-tolerant varieties as well as agronomic techniques to alleviate the effects of NH4+ stress in the field.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2020MC087), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31801282), and the Shandong Modern Agricultural Technology and Industry System (SDAIT-01-06).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 23788 Gongyebei Road, Jinan, 250100, China

    Lingan Kong, Yunxiu Zhang, Bin Zhang, Huawei Li, Zongshuai Wang, Jisheng Si & Bo Feng

  2. College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China

    Lingan Kong & Shoujin Fan

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  1. Lingan Kong
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  2. Yunxiu Zhang
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Kong, L., Zhang, Y., Zhang, B. et al. Does energy cost constitute the primary cause of ammonium toxicity in plants?. Planta 256, 62 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-022-03971-7

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