review · Frontiers in Plant Science
Soil salinity poses severe challenges to crop production worldwide. Applying exogenous nitric oxide can enhance plant salinity tolerance, but varied experimental approaches have obscured optimal treatment practices. A meta-analysis reveals that exogenous nitric oxide significantly boosts plant biomass, growth, and yield, both in normal conditions and under salt stress. The treatment alleviates salinity levels up to 150 mM sodium chloride, especially under prolonged exposure exceeding three weeks. It works most effectively when applied as seed priming or foliar pre-treatment, particularly at germination and seedling stages, and shows greater efficiency in dicot species. Optimal application concentrations span from 0.1 to 0.2 mM. The compound counteracts salt-induced oxidative damage by maintaining osmotic equilibrium, mineral homeostasis, photosynthetic capacity, and antioxidant defences. However, verifying field-level yield impacts and economic returns for growers remains necessary.
High soil salinity limits crop growth and threatens agricultural output. Synthesising evidence on exogenous nitric oxide clarifies optimal dosage, timing, and application techniques to protect crops. Demonstrating that specific treatments enhance stress resistance and yield helps researchers refine agronomic interventions, paving the way towards practical strategies that could protect crops exposed to saline soils and prolonged stress.
This work indicates potential applications in agricultural inputs, specifically seed-priming agents and foliar sprays designed to protect crops from salinity. Agrochemical companies and farm managers could apply these formulations to enhance seedling resilience in saline soils. However, the technology represents early-stage to applied research: while baseline dosages and delivery methods are identified, real-world farm deployment requires addressing identified gaps regarding field-scale yields and the economic profitability of treatment for farmers.
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Nitric oxide (NO) has received much attention since it can boost plant defense mechanisms, and plenty of studies have shown that exogenous NO improves salinity tolerance in plants. However, because of the wide range of experimental settings, it is difficult to assess the administration of optimal dosages, frequency, timing, and method of application and the overall favorable effects of NO on growth and yield improvements. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to reveal the exact physiological and biochemical mechanisms and to understand the influence of plant-related or method-related factors on NO-mediated salt tolerance. Exogenous application of NO significantly influenced biomass accumulation, growth, and yield irrespective of salinity stress. According to this analysis, seed priming and foliar pre-treatment were the most effective methods of NO application to plants. Moreover, one-time and regular intervals of NO treatment were more beneficial for plant growth. The optimum concentration of NO ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 mM, and it alleviates salinity stress up to 150 mM NaCl. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of NO treatment was more pronounced as salinity stress was prolonged (>21 days). This meta-analysis showed that NO supplementation was significantly applicable at germination and seedling stages. Interestingly, exogenous NO treatment boosted plant growth most efficiently in dicots. This meta-analysis showed that exogenous NO alleviates salt-induced oxidative damage and improves plant growth and yield potential by regulating osmotic balance, mineral homeostasis, photosynthetic machinery, the metabolism of reactive oxygen species, and the antioxidant defense mechanism. Our analysis pointed out several research gaps, such as lipid metabolism regulation, reproductive stage performance, C4 plant responses, field-level yield impact, and economic profitability of farmers in response to exogenous NO, which need to be evaluated in the subsequent investigation.
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DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.957735
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