Demystifying the role of nitrate transporters in plant defense

Plants are frequently exposed to a variety of soil-borne or airborne diseases during its life, which pose a threat tothe safety and security of the worlds food supply. Due to millions of years of evolution, plants have developed multi-layered defense mechanisms to detect and offend the invasion of these diverse harmful microbes, such as viruses, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi.Plant defense mechanisms are greatly influenced by nitrogen nutrition. The form of nitrogen nutrition, either nitrate (NO3-) or ammonium (NH4+), plays a very important role in plant defense. Both these forms of N, have tight coordination with a group of transporter proteins called nitrate transporters. The critical role of NO3- transporters in mediating the absorption and its long-distance transport have been the subject of several researches however, little is known about the transport systems involved in NO3- re-allocation under the influence of biotic and abiotic stressors. NO3- transporters are essential to know how plants react to challenging environmental conditions. In fact, when less NO3- is sent to the shoot, plants adapt to environmental stress better. The role of NO3- transporters in helping plants thrives in several challenging environmental cues. As a matter of fact, under different stresses, the amount of NO3- that is translocated from roots to shoots fluctuates, which may have an impact on plants NUE either favorably or unfavorably.